The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA   SAN  DIEGO 


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UNIVERSITY  OF 
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The 
Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

Lohengrin  and  Helyas 


A  Study  of  the  Legend  of  the  Swan-Knight,  with  special 
reference  to  its  two  most  important  developments 


By 
Robert  Jaffray 


Illustrated 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  and  London 

Gbe  "Knickerbocker  press 

1910 


COPYRIGHT,  igio 

BY 
ROBERT  JAFFRAY 


Ub«  fmtcfcetbocfcer  ptese,  Hew  Bort 


PREFACE 

IT  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  in  the  prepara- 
tion  of  this  book  the  references  to  the  con- 
tents of  the  manuscripts  do  not  represent  original 
research  on  the  part  of  the  present  writer.  The 
work  of  that  nature,  which  unfortunately  is  as 
yet  limited  and  incomplete,  has  been  done  by 
scholars  qualified  for  the  difficult  task;  and  the 
results  of  their  work  have  been  freely  used  in  the 
pages  which  follow. 

The  various  versions  of  the  Swan-Knight  story 
which  may  be  found  in  books  treating  of  legendary 
lore  are  interesting  as  a  means  of  entertainment, 
but  they  are  of  little  or  no  critical  value.  The 
information  which  is  of  real  value  in  studying  this 
subject  is  not  found  in  the  current  literature  of 
the  time,  but  must  be  sought  in  books  and  peri- 
odicals which  are  not  of  easy  reference  for  the 
ordinary  reader. 

Moreover,  as  a  general  rule,  these  writings  have 
treated  only  one  division  or  phase  of  the  subject, 
with  the  natural  result  of  furnishing  information 
which  is  highly  specialised  in  character  and  of 


iv  Preface 

undoubtedly  great  value,  but  not  always  interest- 
ing to  the  general  public.  A  careful  search  has 
revealed  to  the  present  writer  only  two  authors 
who  have  treated  the  documentary  evidences  of 
the  Swan-Knight  legend  in  such  a  way  as  to  inter- 
est the  average  reader,  and  neither  of  them  wrote 
in  English.  One  of  these,  Reiffenberg,  wrote 
about  sixty  years  ago ;  and,  although  his  work  is 
a  monument  of  scholarly  investigation,  neverthe- 
less it  neglected  proper  consideration  of  very 
important  evidence;  so  that  his  brother-scholar 
who  finished  the  work  after  that  author's  death 
commented  severely  on  this  unfortunate  omission. 
The  other  author,  Pigeonneau,  wrote  about  thirty 
years  ago.  His  work,  now  out  of  print,  is  full  of 
valuable  information,  and  has  been  freely  used 
in  collecting  many  of  the  facts  which  are  stated 
in  the  following  pages.  The  book  does  not,  how- 
ever, cover  the  whole  subject  herein  considered. 

Again,  national  interest  and  national  prejudice 
have  undoubtedly  influenced  the  attitude  of  some 
writers.  The  Swan- Knight  legend  has  been  a 
favourite  subject  for  writers  of  both  French  and 
German  origin  or  affiliation;  and  as  their  points 
of  view  have  varied,  it  is  not  strange  that  we 
should  find  some  lack  of  harmony  in  the  opinions 
expressed  and  the  conclusions  reached. 


Preface  v 

In  the  present  studies  the  author  has  found  that 
the  German  version  is  familiar  as  regards  its 
matter,  and  (if  the  conclusions  reached  in  Chapter 
III.  are  valid)  clearly  defined  as  regards  its  ori- 
gin; while  the  French  version  is  little  known  and 
surrounded  by  obscurity.  For  this  reason  the 
greater  amount  of  space  has  been  required  for  the 
latter. 

It  has  been  the  writer's  aim  to  examine  as 
much  as  possible  of  the  literature  treating  of  the 
subject,  and  to  collect  the  principal  items  of 
information  available  to  date  which  relate  to  the 
two  most  important  developments  of  the  Swan- 
Knight  legend ;  to  rearrange  and  classify  this  ma- 
terial and  present  it  in  a  convenient  and  compact 
form,  adding  such  new  material  as  has  been  re- 
quired to  fulfil  the  special  purpose  of  this  book; 
and  finally,  to  draw  such  conclusions  as  the  facts 
appear  to  warrant.  In  carrying  out  this  plan  it 
has  been  impossible  to  avoid  some  dry  details; 
but  it  is  hoped  that,  in  spite  thereof,  the  great 
interest  attaching  to  this  ancient  story  may  be 
recognised. 

Cordial  acknowledgments  are  made  for  valu- 
able assistance  rendered  by  the  Management  of 
the  Yale  University  Library,  as  well  as  for  many 
courtesies  received  at  the  Columbia  University 


vi  Preface 

Library,  the  British  Museum,  the  Bibliotheque 
Royale  at  Brussels,  and  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale 
at  Paris. 

R.  J. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTBR  PAGB 

I.    THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  SWAN  KNIGHT     .       i 
II.    THE  STORY  OF  LOHENGRIN     .     .     .     .     n 

III.  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  LOHENGRIN  STORY     16 

IV.  THE  STORY  OF  HELYAS — EARLY  POETIC 

VERSIONS 33 

V.    THE  STORY  OF  HELYAS  (CONTINUED) — 

OTHER  POETIC  VERSIONS  ....     45 

VI.    THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  SWAN-CHILDREN  .     58 

VII.    "  LE    CHEVALIER  AU    CYGNE  " — PROSE 

VERSIONS 65 

VIII.    THE  CLEVE  LEGEND,  AND  THE  ORDER 

OF  THE  SWAN 83 

IX.  PERSONS,  PLACES  AND  THINGS  ...  95 
X.  OTHER  KNIGHTS  OF  THE  SWAN  .  .  .102 

XI.  REVIEW  AND  CONCLUSIONS  .  .  .  .109 

NOTES 117 

INDEX 119 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

HELYAS,    THE    SWAN-KNIGHT,    ARRIVING    AT 
NIMAIE Frontispiece 

(Copied,  by  permission,  from  the  Grolier  Club's 
book  The  Story  of  Helyas,  Knight  of  the  Swan.) 

THE  BROTHERS  AND  SISTER  OF  HELYAS  TURN- 
ING   INTO    SWANS    WHEN    THE    CHAINS    WERE 

TAKEN  FROM  THEIR  NECKS 74 

(Copied,  by  permission,  from  the  Grolier  Club's 
book  The  Story  of  Helyas,  Knight  of  the  Swan.) 

HELYAS  IN   COMBAT   DEFENDING   THE   HONOR 
OF  THE  DUCHESS  OF  BOUILLON     ....     78 

(Copied,  by  permission,  from  the  Grolier  Club's 
book  The  Story  of  Helyas,  Knight  of  the  Swan.) 

THE  SWAN  TOWER  AT  CLEVE 94 

THE  SWAN-KNIGHT  STATUE  AT  CLEVE  ...     98 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  SWAN-KNIGHT 

HPHE  melodious  music  and  scenic  attractions  of 
Lohengrin  have  given  to  that  opera  a  strong 
hold  on  the  affections  of  the  music-loving  commu- 
nity ;  but  it  is  probable  that  comparatively  few  of 
the  hearers  have  any  adequate  appreciation  of 
the  basic  story,  its  origin,  or  the  extent  of  its 
dispersion. 

The  legend  of  the  Swan-Knight  appears  in 
literature  in  many  forms,  having  undergone 
various  modifications  in  the  course  of  its  treat- 
ment by  writers  of  different  nationalities  and  at 
different  periods.  In  a  general  sense  it  may  be 
said  to  tell  of  the  arrival  of  a  mysterious  knight 
in  a  boat  drawn  by  a  swan,  at  a  time  when  a  lady 
of  high  degree  is  in  sore  need  of  a  protector;  the 


2        The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

marriage  of  the  lady  and  the  knight;  and  the 
departure  of  the  knight  for  an  unknown  country 
when  his  wife  asks  the  forbidden  questions  about 
his  name  and  origin. 

It  is  not  known  when  or  in  what  shape  the 
legend  first  appeared  in  definite  form  either  as  an 
oral  tale  or  in  writing.  An  Oriental  origin  has 
been  suggested,  and  Scandinavia  and  Southern 
Germany  have  their  advocates.  The  available 
evidence  is  scanty,  but  there  is  sufficient  to  create 
a  strong  presumption  in  favour  of  the  region  now 
covered  by  Belgium  and  the  adjacent  provinces 
of  France  and  Germany,  as  being  the  place  where 
the  tale  first  appeared.  Theories  of  this  kind 
must,  however,  be  accepted  with  reserve,  especially 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  some  writers  see  in  this 
legend  only  a  manifestation  or  development  of  a 
folk-tale  common  to  many  nations  of  the  Aryan 
race.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  Swan- 
Knight  is  identical  with  Sceai  or  Skedf,  the  an- 
cestor of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  who,  it  is  related,  was 
brought  in  a  boat,  when  a  little  child,  to  the 
shores  of  Great  Britain;  but  as  there  is  neither 
knight  nor  swan  in  this  tale,  the  connection  with 
our  legend  is  not  satisfactorily  established.  The 
average  reader  does  not  possess  that  highly-de- 
veloped faculty  of  discovering  analogies  which  is 


The  Legend  of  the  Swan-Knight      3 

given  to  some  students  of  folk-lore,  and  which 
leads  at  times  to  theories  more  fanciful  than 
logical  or  reasonable. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  locality  and  time 
of  the  first  appearance  of  the  legend,  the  earliest 
references  now  known  date  from  the  iath  century, 
and  are  associated  with  the  history  of  the  family 
of  Bouillon.  In  a  history  of  the  Crusades  by 
Guillaume,  Archbishop  of  Tyre,  written  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  i2th  century,  the  author,  treat- 
ing of  the  brilliant  career  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon, 
alludes  to  the  tradition  that  this  young  warrior 
was  descended  from  the  Knight  of  the  Swan,  and 
states  that  he  passes  over  this  story  without  de- 
tailed reference,  although  the  majority  believe 
it  to  be  true.  *  Guillaume  died  not  later  than  1197; 
and  that  part  of  his  history  which  includes  the 
reference  to  the  Swan-Knight  legend  was  ap- 
parently written  not  later  than  1173,  as  *s  shown 
by  internal  evidence.2  Since  the  legend  is  men- 
tioned as  a  well-known  tradition  it  must  have  been 

1  The  passage  is  found  in  vol.  ix.,  and  reads  as  follows: 
"  Praeterimus  denique  studiose  licet  id  verum  fuisse  pluri- 
morum  astruat  narratio  Cygni  fabulam  unde  vulgo  dicitur 
sementivam  eis  fuisse  originem  eo  quod  a  vero  videatur  de- 
ficere  talis  assertio. " 

1  Cf.  Caxton's  Godeffroy  of  Bologne  reviewed  by  Mary 
Noyes  Colvin  in  Publications  of  Early  English  Text  Socitty 
for  1893. 


4        The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

current  much  earlier  than  the  year  1173.  When 
we  consider  the  general  interest  which  had  pre- 
vailed throughout  Europe  for  many  years  in 
regard  to  the  events  connected  with  the  rescue 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  from  the  hands  of  the  in- 
fidels, and  remember  the  heroic  qualities  attrib- 
uted to  Godfrey,  we  can  readily  believe  that  there 
would  be  a  disposition  to  look  on  the  young  knight 
as  a  character  something  more  than  human,  so 
that  a  tale  which  attributed  to  him  a  supernatural 
origin  would  be  easily  believed,  and  would  become 
widely  spread. 

The  passage  in  Guillaume's  history  mentioned 
above  has  been  often  cited  as  the  earliest-known 
mention  of  the  legend  of  the  Swan-Knight;  but 
M.  Gaston  Paris,  in  an  article  contributed  to 
Romania,  vol.  xxx.  (1901),  mentioned  a  letter 
written  by  Gui  de  Bazoches  about  1170  in  which 
he  refers  to  Baldwin,  the  brother  of  Godfrey,  as 
a  grandson  of  the  warrior  who  was  led  by  a  white 
swan  by  way  of  the  Rhine.1  This  is  clearly  a 

i  The  reference  is  in  the  following  words: 

"Hie  erat  ille  nepos  satulis  [fatalis?]  militis  ejus, 

Per  vada  cui  Rheni  dux  fuit  albus  olor; 
Huic  Celebris  via  Jherusalem  duce  cum  Godefrido 

Multo  Partorum  sanguine  parta  fuit. " 

The  following  note  relative  to  this  letter  was  prepared 
for  the  writer  by  Mr.  Andrew  Keogh,  Reference  Librarian, 
Yale  University: 

"Gui  de  Bazoches  mentions  the  Swan- Knight  in  the  236. 


The  Legend  of  the  Swan-Knight      5 

reference  to  the  legend  of  the  Swan-Knight;  and 
M.  Gaston  Paris  believed  it  to  be  the  oldest  on 
record,  being  in  his  opinion  without  doubt  earlier 
than  the  passage  in  Guillaume's  history. 

A  Latin  prose  work,  Dolopathos,  written  in  the 
1 2th  century,  mentions  the  legend,  but  its  date  of 
composition  is  not  clearly  established.  It  may 
be  earlier  than  either  Guillaume's  history  or  the 
letter  of  Gui  de  Bazoches,  but  there  is  no  distinct 
evidence  on  which  we  may  rely.  A  French  poem 
generally  known  as  Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne,  or  La 
Naissance  du  Chevalier  au  Cygne,  which  exists 
in  a  number  of  versions,  relates  a  form  of  this 
legend;  and  the  earliest  version  may  date  from  a 
period  anterior  to  any  of  the  writings  mentioned 
above,  but  definite  knowledge  on  this  point  is 
lacking.  Both  of  these  works  will  be  referred 
to  more  particularly  as  we  progress  with  our 
present  studies. 

of  the  collection  of  36  letters  preserved  in  the  Luxembourg 
Library.  The  letters  are  all  without  date,  but  from  circum- 
stantial evidence  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  ist  was  written 
in  1162  and  the  34th  in  1190.  The  letters  seem  to  follow 
each  other  in  chronological  order,  so  that  the  23d  is  probably 
later  than  the  i8th.  Now,  the  i8th  has  an  appendix  of 
verses  in  honour  of  the  recently  martyred  Thomas  of  Canter- 
bury, and,  as  the  martyrdom  occurred  on  2Qth  December, 
1170,  this  1 8th  letter  cannot  be  earlier  than  1171." 

From  the  foregoing  it  seems  probable  that  the  letter  men- 
tioning the  Swan- Knight  was  written  between  1175  an<^  1180. 
The  author  died  in  the  year  1203. 


6        The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

There  is  also  to  be  noted  an  interesting  passage 
in  La  Chanson  d'Antioche,  a  poem  of  this  same 
century,  which  refers  to  the  legend  and  to  its 
connection  with  the  family  of  Bouillon.  The  poem, 
in  the  form  in  which  it  has  been  preserved,  re- 
presents the  work  of  two  or  more  writers,  any  one 
of  whom  may  be  responsible  for  the  introduction 
of  the  lines  alluding  to  the  Swan-Knight. 

If  this  passage  was  added  by  the  latest  writer, 
as  is  most  likely,  it  would  probably  be  antedated 
by  the  references  mentioned  on  the  previous 
pages ;  but  if  it  is  part  of  the  material  which  was 
contributed  by  an  earlier  hand,  its  date  may 
yet  be  traceable  to  the  early  part  of  the  i2th 
century. l 

«  As  this  passage  is  not  easily  referred  to,  it  is  given  below 
according  to  the  edition  of  La  Chanson  d'Antioche  edited  by 
M.  Paulin  Paris  in  1848: 

"Mout  est  (Godefrois)  de  grant  parage  par  Dieu  qui  fist  le 

tron. 

Bien  av6s  oi  dire  qui  el  fu  et  qui  non : 
Son  avie  aduist  uns  cisnes  a  Nimaie  el  sablon, 
En  mi  le  plain  gravier  au  plus  maistre  donjon, 
Tout  seul  en  un  batel  ainc  n'i  ot  compaignon, 
Bien  chaucie"  et  vestu  d'un  paile  d'auqueton; 
Plus  reluisoit  ses  chi6s  que  penne  de  paon; 
Ainc  Dieus  ne  fist  un  home  de  si  bele  facon. 
Li  cors  fu  mout  pleniere,  de  la  Surrexion : 
L'emperel  retint  par  itel  guerredon 
K'il  li  dona  moillier  en  cele  region, 
Une  soie  parente,  d'un  sien  cosin  Begon; 


The  Legend  of  the  Swan-Knight      7 

It  is  therefore  clearly  established  that  the  legend 
was  well  known  in  the  1 2th  century,  and  generally 
associated  at  that  time  with  Godfrey  of  Bouillon. 
How  soon  after  Godfrey's  death  in  the  year  noo 
this  association  was  made,  is  not  known;  but 
in  view  of  the  exalted  position  which  Godfrey 
occupied  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  his  death  occurred  at  the  pinnacle 
of  his  greatness,  we  can  readily  understand  how  a 
story  of  his  miraculous  origin  could  spread  abroad 
in  connection  with  the  news  of  his  lamented  death. 
We  have  seen  that  about  the  year  1175  the  story 
was  mentioned  as  a  well-known  tale,  so  we  can 
in  any  case  be  sure  of  its  existence  a  short  time 
after  Godfrey's  death. 

If  we  desire  to  probe  deeper  than  the  literature 

Terre  bone  e  fegonde  dona  il  au  baron, 

E  si  le  ravesti  de  1'onor  de  Buillon ; 

Pius  li  guia  ses  os,  porta  son  gonfanon ; 

Volentiers  Ten  servi  sans  nule  mesprison, 

Tant  que  li  cisnes  vint  a  le  sainte  saison, 

Le  vassal  en  mena  en  un  petit  dromon, 

Par  mi  la  mer  salee,  sans  sigle  et  sans  noton; 

Ains  nel  pot  retenir  li  rois  par  nesun  don ; 

Mout  en  furent  dolent  li  gent  de  sa  maison ; 

Onques  puis  n'en  oirent  autre  devision." 

Further  comment  on  these  lines  will  be  found  in  Chapter 
V.  In  another  work  M.  Paulin  Paris  refers  to  this  passage 
as  follows:  "On  voit  au  moins  par  cette  citation  1'anciennete" 
de  la  legende  du  Chevalier  au  Cygne,  bien  ante"rieur  a  Gode- 
froid  de  Bouillon"  (Guillaume  de  Tyr  et  ses  continuateurst 
Histoire  gen&rale  des  Croisades,  1879,  footnote,  p.  305.) 


8        The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

of  the  1 2th  century,  mentioned  above,  and  con- 
sider the  possibility  that  the  legend  is  a  de- 
velopment of  some  folk-tale,  we  enter  into  an 
almost  limitless  field  of  conjecture.  There  is 
nothing  unreasonable  in  this  theory;  indeed  it  is 
supported  to  some  extent  by  the  fact  that  the 
Swan  often  appears  as  a  feature  in  the  mythology 
of  the  nations  of  Northern  Europe. 

The  instances  given  above  are  by  no  means  the 
only  early  allusions  to  this  legend  in  the  literature 
of  the  period.  The  Chronicle  of  Lambert  d'Ardres 
(who  lived  1180-1225),  the  Chronicle  of  the  Abbey 
of  Brogne,  written  by  one  of  the  monks  in  or  about 
the  year  1211,  the  works  of  Vincent  de  Beauvais 
(who  died  1264),  and  the  Chronicle  of  Helinand 
(about  1200),  known  only  through  quotations  by 
Vincent  de  Beauvais  and  otherr. — all  these  writings 
mention  the  legend  of  the  Swan-Knight,  and  give 
evidence  of  the  widely-spread  interest  in  the  story 
at  that  early  date.  Generally  speaking,  these 
early  references  were  very  brief,  and  served  only 
to  remind  the  readers  of  something  which  they 
already  knew  in  a  more  amplified  form,  through 
the  oral  recitals  of  the  jongleurs  who  went  about 
the  country  rendering  the  same  service  as  is  now 
done  by  the  printed  book.  During  the  i3th  and 
1 4th  centuries  the  greater  production  of  manu- 


The  Legend  of  the  Swan-Knight      9 

scripts  and  the  more  general  desire  to  read,  instead 
of  to  listen,  went  hand  in  hand ;  and  the  literature 
available  for  studies  like  the  present  began  to 
appear. 

In  the  centuries  which  followed,  the  ever- 
widening  interest  in  the  legend  is  shown  by  the 
traces  of  its  appearance  in  the  literature  of  other 
countries.  One  of  the  earliest  evidences  of  this 
is  a  manuscript  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Madrid 
which  has  been  edited  under  the  title  La  Gran 
Conquista  de  Ultramar.  It  is  a  compilation  of 
various  writings  about  the  crusades,  and  includes 
much  of  the  same  material  as  is  found  in  the  early 
French  manuscripts  to  which  we  shall  allude  later 
on.  It  apparently  dates  from  the  end  of  the  i3th 
or  beginning  of  the  i4th  century.  The  legend 
appears  also  in  English,  German,  Dutch,  and 
Scandinavian  literature,  and  even  in  that  of 
Iceland. 

In  the  development  of  the  basic  legend  into 
stories  by  the  different  authors  who  have  treated 
it,  we  find,  as  is  natural,  considerable  variety  of 
detail.  There  is  also  some  variety  in  the  personali- 
ties of  the  stories;  but,  aside  from  a  few  cases  of 
minor  importance,  the  hero  appears  either  under 
the  name  Lohengrin,  as  in  the  German  versions, 
or  Helyas  (Elias,  Elyas,  etc.)  in  those  of  French 


io      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

origin.  It  is  the  purpose  of  these  studies  to 
consider  the  stories  of  Lohengrin  and  of  Hel- 
yas,  their  origin,  development,  and  respective 
ages. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  STORY  OF  LOHENGRIN 

•""THE  most  direct  source  of  the  story  of  Lohengrin 
•*•  as  it  is  related  in  the  opera,  appears  to  have 
been  a  poem  under  that  same  title  which  was 
written  by  an  unknown  author  (probably  from 
Bavaria)  in  the  latter  part  of  the  i3th  century. 
This  in  turn  was  virtually  an  elaboration  of  a 
brief  and  compact  narrative  of  the  adventures  of 
Lohengrin  which  had  already  appeared  in  the 
poem  Parzival  by  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach. 
There  was  also  a  poem  called  Der  Schwan-Ritt&r 
by  Konrad  von  Wurtzburg,  which  appeared  in 
the  second  half  of  the  i3th  century,  and  which 
tells  a  story  much  like  that  of  Lohengrin  but  with- 
out mentioning  this  hero's  name.  These,  to- 
gether with  the  varying  forms  of  the  story  which 
had  grown  out  of  them,  and  also  a  French  tale 
of  similar  character,  were  available  to  Wagner 
when  he  wrote  the  opera,  and  were  used  by  him 
to  construct  the  book. 

The   brief    story   of    Lohengrin   in   the   poem 


12      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

Parzival,  mentioned  above,  may  be  summarised 
as  follows: 

A  maiden,  ruling  over  the  land  of  Brabant,  had 
persistently  refused  all  offers  of  marriage,  and 
was  sorely  criticised  by  her  nobles  and  her  people 
for  following  this  course.  She  swore  she  would 
only  marry  him  who  should  be  sent  by  God. 
From  Monsalvasch  (the  home  of  the  Grail)  came 
a  knight  guided  by  a  swan.  He  landed  at  Ant- 
werp, and  was  welcomed  by  the  princess  as  the 
God-sent  husband.  The  knight  announced  that 
in  marrying  her  he  would  lose  a  kingdom,  and  he 
warned  her  never  to  ask  either  his  name  or  the 
country  whence  he  came,  adding  that,  if  she 
failed  to  heed  this  warning,  God  would  recall  him 
to  the  land  he  had  left.  She  pledged  her  word, 
and  they  were  married.  Some  time  later  her 
curiosity  got  the  better  of  her.  She  asked  the 
questions,  and  soon  repented  of  her  rashness, 
for  the  swan-boat  came  and  took  the  knight  away. 
He  left  as  mementos  his  sword,  his  horn,  and  his 
ring.  His  name  was  Lohengrin,  son  of  Parzival. 

This  passage  will  be  referred  to  more  particularly 
in  the  next  chapter.  It  is  sufficient  to  note  here 
the  impression  of  incompleteness  conveyed  by  the 
brief  sketch  of  which  an  abstract  is  given  above — 
suggesting  the  probability  that  other  traditions 


The  Story  of  Lohengrin  13 

or  stories,  more  or  less  familiar,  may  have  been 
the  basis  of  this  brief  narrative. 

The  poem  Lohengrin  gives  a  very  elaborated 
version  of  the  narrative  detailed  above.  The 
essential  points  for  our  present  consideration  are 
as  follows' 

Elsa  of  Brabant,  after  the  death  of  her  father 
and  mother,  was  left  under  the  care  and  guardian- 
ship of  Telramund,  who,  moreover,  became  a 
suitor  for  her  hand.  As  he  was  unsuccessful  in 
prosecuting  his  suit,  he  appealed  to  the  Emperor 
and  it  was  arranged  that  the  matter  should  be 
settled  by  combat  between  Telramund  and  a  war- 
rior chosen  by  Elsa.  The  maiden  appealed  to 
God  for  aid,  and,  upon  the  advice  of  her  chaplain, 
she  rang  a  little  bell  which  was  attached  to  her 
rosary.  The  sound  of  the  bell  was  carried  to  the 
distant  Temple  of  the  Grail,  and  it  was  made 
known  there  to  King  Arthur  and  his  knights  that 
Elsa  of  Brabant  was  in  distress  and  that  a  defender 
should  be  sent  to  her.  By  a  supernatural  sign 
Lohengrin  was  indicated,  and  he  at  once  made 
preparations  for  his  departure.  Just  as  he  was 
about  to  leave,  a  swan-boat  arrived;  he  entered 
the  boat,  and  sailed  away.  Being  guided  to 
Antwerp  he  found  Elsa  with  her  nobles  and  people 
considering  the  situation;  and  the  arrival  of  the 


14      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

swan-boat  caused  much  excitement.  Lohengrin 
was  received  with  the  honour  due  to  one  of  princely 
rank,  and  the  swan-boat  disappeared.  Lohengrin 
vanquished  Telramund  at  Mayence  and  married 
Elsa,  but  the  mystery  about  him  remained  un- 
disclosed. After  a  considerable  lapse  of  time, 
the  Duchess  of  Cleve,  whose  husband  had  been 
unhorsed  by  Lohengrin  in  a  friendly  contest,  tried 
to  prejudice  the  mind  of  Elsa  against  her  mysteri- 
ous husband.  Elsa's  curiosity  became  irresistible 
and  she  asked  Lohengrin  for  the  information  hith- 
erto withheld .  Twice  he  turned  her  off .  The  third 
time  he  promised  to  answer,  and  arranged  to 
meet  the  royal  court  and  populace  at  Antwerp. 
There  he  revealed  his  name  and  origin,  and  sailed 
away  in  the  swan-boat,  which  had  mysteriously 
arrived  for  him.  Lohengrin  left  as  tokens,  his 
ring,  his  horn,  and  his  sword. 

The  poem  is  very  much  expanded,  and  covers 
many  subjects  not  alluded  to  in  the  brief  abstract 
above.  The  Old  German  text  of  this  poem  has 
been  edited  by  Goerres1  (Lohengrin,  ein  alt- 


>  In  the  introduction  to  Goerres'  book  the  origin  of  the 
story  of  Lohengrin  is  apparently  attributed  to  the  poem  Erec 
et  Enide  of  Chretien  de  Troyes,  but  this  is  evidently  an  error 
It  is  probably  based  on  an  allusion  to  the  Erec  of  Hartmann 
von  Aue  in  the  closing  lines  of  Parzival,  which  has  no  con- 
nection with  the  question  of  the  derivation  of  the  Lohengrin 


The  Story  of  Lohengrin  15 

deutsches  gedicht,  Heidelberg,  1813)  and  also  more 
recently  by  Prof.  H.  Ruckert.  A  rendering  into 
modern  German  may  be  found  in  Reclam's 
Universal  Bibliothek  (Leipzig). 

The  story  as  portrayed  in  the  opera  is  so  familiar 
that  a  repetition  here  is  unnecessary.  It  follows 
the  same  general  lines  as  the  poem  of  the  same 
title.  The  consideration  of  the  operatic  version, 
and  its  relation  to  the  earlier  forms,  may  be  found 
in  the  writings  of  those  who  have  treated  of  Wag- 
ner and  his  works.  This  instance  is  not  the  only 
one  where  Wagner's  skill  as  a  dramatist  was 
manifested  simultaneously  with  his  genius  as  a 
composer.  He  had  a  remarkable  power  of  select- 
ing from  all  the  different  versions  of  a  story  such 
elements  as  he  needed  to  enable  him  to  construct 
a  finished  and  consistent  work  on  the  lines  which 
he  had  in  view ;  and  this  power  was  well  shown  in 
his  version  of  the  story  of  Lohengrin. 

story.     See  the  notes  to  the  translation  of  Wolfram's  Parzival 
by  Jessie  L.  Weston,  vol.  ii.,  p.  224. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  LOHENGRIN  STORY 

'T'HE  earliest  connection  of  the  personality  of 
Lohengrin  with  the  Knight  of  the  Swan  is 
found  in  the  poem  Parzival  by  Wolfram  von 
Eschenbach.  This  poet  lived  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  1 2th  and  early  part  of  the  i3th  century. 
The  dates  of  his  birth  and  death  are  unknown,  but 
the  internal  evidence  afforded  by  the  poem  men- 
tioned above  shows  clearly  that  it  was  written  in 
the  early  years  of  the  i3th  century. 1  The  poem  is 
one  of  several  similar  writings  which  appeared 
at  about  that  period,  and  which  were  inspired  by 
the  legends  of  the  Knights  of  the  Round  Table  and 
of  the  Holy  Grail.  Wolfram's  story  of  Parzival 
does  not  concern  us  in  the  present  discussion ;  we 
have  only  to  consider  a  brief  passage  at  the  close 
of  the  poem,  where,  after  it  is  stated  that  Lohen- 
grin, the  son  of  Parzival,  was  received  into  the 

1  Meyer,  in  Konversations-Lexikon,  vol.  xx.,  p.  730,  states 
that  Wolfram  finished  Parzival  about  1210,  and  died  about 
1220.  The  Nouvelle  Biographic  Gtntrale,  vol.  xvi.,  states  that 
about  1225  he  was  listed  among  the  poets  who  had  ceased 
to  exist. 

16 


Origin  of  the  Lohengrin  Story      17 

service  of  the  Grail,  a  few  lines  are  added  to  the 
effect  that  Lohengrin  was  sent  from  Monsalvasch, 
guided  by  a  swan,  to  Antwerp,  where  he  married 
the  Duchess  of  Brabant,  but  finally  left  her  and 
returned  to  the  home  of  the  Grail  because  the 
Duchess  had  asked  him  the  forbidden  question 
about  his  name  and  his  country. 

Wolfram's  statement  in  regard  to  Parzival  is, 
that  he  obtained  the  material  for  his  work  from 
another  poet,  Kiot  (also  written  Kyot  and  Guyot) 
the  Provencal,  who  in  turn  found  the  story  of  the 
Grail  in  an  Arabic  manuscript  at  Toledo,  written 
long  previously,  apparently  before  the  crusades, 
by  a  heathen  author  named  Flegetanis,  who  was 
the  first  to  record  the  tale. 

A  superficial  consideration  of  these  statements 
might  lead  the  reader  to  infer  that  they  indicated 
a  considerably  earlier  date  for  the  identification 
of  Lohengrin  with  the  Knight  of  the  Swan,  and 
perhaps  that  it  might  date  back  to  a  remote  an- 
tiquity ;  but  on  further  examination  the  contrary 
conclusion  is  suggested. 

If  Wolfram's  Parzival  were  a  translation  into 
German  of  an  existing  French  poem,  either  of  the 
foregoing  theories  would  be  reasonable;  but  no 
such  claim  is  made.  On  the  contrary  the  poem  is 
manifestly  the  re-telling  of  a  story  which  has  pre- 


i8      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

viously  been  told  by  a  writer  in  another  language. 
Wolfram  relates  the  story  in  his  own  fashion, 
injecting  his  own  personality  into  the  work  in 
various  ways.  The  introduction  is  apparently 
from  his  hand ;  in  various  parts  of  the  poem  he 
interrupts  the  continuity  of  the  narrative  to  make 
observations  and  explanations ;  and  he  mentions 
various  German  characters  contemporaneous  with 
him.  These  proofs  of  the  fact  that  his  work 
contains  material  which  was  not  in  the  original 
source  are  especially  pertinent  when  we  consider 
the  brief  reference  to  the  Swan-Knight  in  the 
concluding  lines  of  the  poem.  This  passage  is 
introduced  after  the  story  of  Parzival  had  been 
brought  to  a  natural  conclusion;  and  the  lines 
give  every  appearance  of  being  an  addition  made 
by  Wolfram  to  the  existing  material  which  he  used 
as  a  basis  for  his  poem.  Immediately  after  this 
reference  to  Lohengrin,  Wolfram  adds  another 
passage  to  express  his  disapproval  of  the  way  an- 
other writer  (Chretien  de  Troyes)  has  told  the 
story  of  Parzival ;  and  of  course  this  latter  passage 
is  original  with  Wolfram.  Granting,  therefore, 
as  must  be  done,  that  at  the  close  of  the  poem 
Parzival  there  has  been  added  some  material 
which  was  not  in  the  original  source  (as  in  like 
manner  a  similar  addition  is  apparently  found  in 


Origin  of  the  Lohengrin  Story      19 

the  introduction) ,  the  only  question  to  be  decided 
is,  where  this  addition  begins;  i.  e.,  whether  it 
includes  only  the  passage  criticising  Chretien,  or 
whether  it  embraces  also  the  passage  relating  to 
Lohengrin.  The  latter  conclusion  is  suggested  by 
the  passage  itself  and  by  the  manner  of  its  in- 
troduction, as  has  been  mentioned  above ;  and  this 
conclusion  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that,  inter- 
woven in  the  brief  narrative  about  Lohengrin,  is  a 
reference  to  a  German  poet,  contemporaneous  with 
Wolfram,  who  could  not,  with  any  degree  of  prob- 
ability, have  been  known  to  the  mysterious 
Provencal  poet. 

Unfortunately  we  cannot  obtain  light  on  this 
question  by  reference  to  the  original  source  of 
Parzival,  which,  according  to  Wolfram,  was  a 
work  by  Kiot.  No  such  work  is  in  existence,  nor 
is  there  in  existence  any  material  whatever  known 
to  have  come  from  the  hand  of  Kiot.  It  has  even 
been  held  by  some  writers  that  this  poet  never 
lived,  and  that  Wolfram's  reference  to  him  is 
based  only  on  fancy,  and  with  the  object  of  adding 
a  mysterious  interest  to  his  own  work.  Other 
writers  are  content  to  hold  their  judgment  in 
suspense  for  the  time.1 

1  Thus,  in  L'Histoire  Litteraire  de  la  France,  vol.  xxx.,  Paris, 
Imprimerie  Nationale,  1888,  we  read: 

"On  n'est  pas  encore  d'accord  sur  le  point  de  savoir  si  ce 


20      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

It  has  been  stated  on  a  previous  page  that  Wol- 
fram's poem  was  only  one  of  a  number  of  similar 
works  which  appeared  at  about  that  period.  The 
adventures  of  "Perceval"  were  a  favourite  theme. 
There  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  the  Perceval 
legend  in  its  original  form  was  of  great  age ;  and 
that  at  about  the  period  under  consideration  the 
original  folk-lore  story  was  combined  with  the  Ar- 
thurian legends,  then  much  in  vogue.  One  of 
these  works  calls  for  our  consideration.  It  is 
known  under  two  titles,  viz.,  Perceval  le  Gallois  and 
Li  Conte  del  Graal.1  The  author  was  Chr6tien  (or 
Chrestien)  de  Troyes,  one  of  the  most  famous  of 
the  French  writers  of  that  age.  He  died  at  the 
close  of  the  i2th  century,  say  about  1191.  This 

Kyot  n'est  pas  un  etre  purement  imaginaire"  (p.  28),  and 
also: 

"Les  Allemands  ne  se  sont  pas  contends  de  traduire  plus 
ou  moins  librement  les  poemes  frangais  du  cycle  breton; 
ils  ont  de  bonne  heure  essaye"  de  composer  des  romans  ar- 
thurieus  de  leur  cru,  en  les  donnant  d'ailleurs  ge"ne"ralement 
comme  pris  d'une  source  franfaise,  afin  de  les  faire  profiter 
du  succes  acquis  aux  traductions  du  francais.  On  n'est  pas 
encore  arrive"  a  se  mettre  d 'accord  sur  le  point  de  savoir  si 
Wolfram  d'Eschenbach  a  de"ja  employe"  ce  proce"de"  dans  les 
partis  de  Parzival  qu'il  n'a  pas  trouve"es  dans  Chretien,  et 
qu'il  pretend  devoir  a  un  certain  Kyot  le  Provenfal.  ..." 
(pp.  118,  119). 

1  This  title,  although  often  used,  has  been  considered  as 
unwarranted,  and  probably  given  by  another  writer  who 
added  a  preface  to  the  poem.  Cf.  The  Legend  of  the  Holy 
Grail  (p.  i7)_by  William  Wells  Newell,  Cambridge,  1902. 


Origin  of  the  Lohengrin  Story       2 1 

poem  was  not  finished  by  Chretien,  the  work 
having  been  interrupted  by  the  author's  death. 
It  was,  however,  completed  by  at  least  three  other 
writers  (known  as  "continuators  ")  at  later  periods. 
The  portion  which  is  of  Chretien's  own  authorship 
bears  a  very  close  correspondence  with  Wolfram's 
Parzival,  indicating  clearly  a  relation  of  some 
kind — either  a  borrowing  of  the  later  author 
from  the  earlier  one,  or  else  a  dependence  of  the 
two  works  upon  a  common  source.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  Chretien's  own  part  of  the  work 
does  not  carry  the  story  far  enough  to  contain  any 
reference  to  Lohengrin;  and  that  all  of  Wolfram's 
references  to  this  character  are  in  those  parts  of 
his  poem  which  differ  not  only  from  the  work  of 
Chretien  but  also  from  that  of  his  continuators. 
Turning  now  to  the  work  of  the  so-called  con- 
tinuators of  Chr6tien,  the  first  of  those  writers 
is  known  by  a  variety  of  names — Gautier  de 
Denet,  Gaucier  de  Donaing,  Gaucher  de  Dourdain, 
Wauchier  de  Denain,  etc.  In  his  addition  to 
the  original  writer's  work  there  is  a  reference 
to  the  arrival  at  King  Arthur's  court  of  a  boat 
drawn  by  a  swan,  and  containing  the  body  of  a 
dead  knight.  Garahies  (or  Gurrehes),  one  of  the 
knights,  is  afterwards  brought  to  the  court  by  the 
same  conveyance.  This,  evidently,  is  merely  an 


22      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

echo  of  the  original  swan  legend  in  its  primitive 
form,  and  it  calls  for  no  further  comment  here. 

Another  continuator,  Gerbert  (or  Gibert),  re- 
lates in  his  part  of  the  tale  that  a  supernatural 
voice  announced  to  Perceval  that  from  his  line 
would  be  descended  the  conqueror  of  Jerusalem. 
This  passage,  although  apparently  irrelevant  to 
our  subject,  is  nevertheless  of  importance  because 
the  details  of  the  prophecy  correspond  closely 
with  a  form  of  the  Swan-Knight  story  wherein 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  the  conqueror  of  Jerusalem, 
is  described  as  the  grandson  of  the  Knight  of  the 
Swan,  and  in  which  the  Knight  himself  bears 
another  name  than  Lohengrin.  Whether  Gerbert 
found  this  story  in  another  work  about  Perceval 
which  he  used  in  writing  his  continuation  of 
Chretien's  poem,  or  whether  he  adapted  it  from 
another  tale  current  at  that  time,  will  be  con- 
sidered in  a  later  chapter.  The  points  of  special 
interest  are,  that  there  is  no  mention  of  Lohengrin 
by  name,  and  that  the  form  of  the  story  alluded 
to  is  one  which  has  never  been  connected  with 
him. 

The  identity  of  this  writer  is  not  absolutely 
determined,  but  he  is  generally  believed  to  be 
Gerbert  de  Montreuil,  the  author  of  the  Roman  de 
la  Violette.  His  period  of  literary  activity  would 


Origin  of  the  Lohengrin  Story       23 

therefore  be  not  far  from  1225,  so  that  his  work 
under  present  consideration  would  belong  to  a 
later  date  than  Wolfram's  Parzival.1 

Inasmuch,  then,  as  in  this  poem  of  Chretien 
and  his  continuators,  so  closely  related  to  Wol- 
fram's Parzival,  there  is  no  mention  of  Lohengrin, 
either  in  the  part  written  by  the  original  author  or 
in  those  parts  added  by  his  continuators,  the 
impression  is  strengthened  that  the  connection  of 
Lohengrin  with  the  Swan-Knight  story  is  original 
with  Wolfram,  and  that  the  passage  in  which  it 
occurs  was  added  as  a  sort  of  postscript  to  the 
existing  tale  which  he  had  elaborated.  It  may 
also  be  noted  that  the  Lohengrin  passage  is 
foreign  to  the  story  of  Parzival,  and  that  its 
exceeding  brevity  and  forced  connection  with  the 
rest  of  the  poem  suggest  of  themselves  a  doubt 
whether  it  was  comprised  in  the  original  narrative. 

1  Gerbert's  Roman  de  la  Violette  was,  according  to  Grober, 
his  first  work  (cf.  Grundriss  der  romanishen  Philologie,  vol.  ii., 
pt.  i,  p.  532)  and  was  written  after  1221.  Michel  and  Krause 
say  it  was  after  1225  (cf.  Roman  de  la  Violette,  p.  iii. ;  Uber  Ger 
bert  de  Montreuil,  p.  5) .  Maurice  Wilmotte  says  it  could  not 
have  been  earlier  than  1225  (cf.  Bulletin  de  VAcademie  Royale 
de  Belgique,  1900).  It  seems  reasonably  certain,  therefore, 
that  the  continuation  of  Perceval  was  written  later  than  1225 
Whatever  the  exact  date  may  have  been,  it  was  evidently 
later  than  Wolfram's  Parzival.  Fauriel,  in  his  Histoire  de  la 
Poesie  Provencal,  chap,  xx.,  states  that  when  Wolfram's 
poem  was  composed  at  the  beginning  of  the  i3th  century, 
Chretien's  Perceval  already  existed,  although  not  yet  finished. 


24      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

Of  course  absolute  proof  is  unobtainable  with- 
out reference  to  the  original  work  which  formed 
the  basis  of  Wolfram's  poem,  and  this,  as  has 
been  stated  on  a  previous  page,  is  not  in 
existence. 

It  will  easily  be  seen  that  Wolfram's  relation  to 
Chretien,  and  the  extent  to  which  they  both  made 
use  of  existing  works,  are  matters  of  importance 
in  our  present  discussion ;  and  this  involves  a  con- 
sideration of  the  broad  question  of  how  much 
credence  can  be  placed  in  the  statements  of  medi- 
aeval writers  in  regard  to  the  sources  from  which 
they  drew.  Many  people  are  disposed  to  be  very 
skeptical  about  such  statements.1  It  will  not  do, 
however,  to  dismiss  them  all  as  improbable ;  nor, 
on  the  other  hand,  can  we  accept  them  blindly. 
They  must  all  stand  the  test  of  internal  and  ex- 
ternal evidence,  and,  if  the  evidence  be  incon- 
clusive, we  must  have  due  regard  to  the  question 
of  probability.  Fauriel,  in  alluding  to  the  ro- 
mances of  the  Round  Table,  refers  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  authors  strained  the  credulity  of  their 
readers  by  statements  regarding  the  authority  of 
their  writings.  He  instances  a  prose  romance 
wherein  the  author  states  that  the  book  containing 

»  "Statements  of  mediaeval  writers  regarding  their  sources 
are  seldom  to  be  implicitly  accepted"  (King  Arthur  and 
the  Table  Round,  by  William  Wells  Newell,  p.  xxix.). 


Origin  of  the  Lohengrin  Story      25 

the  history  of  the  Grail  was  brought  to  him  from 
heaven  by  Jesus  Christ  in  person ! l 

In  the  case  of  Kiot,  whom  Wolfram  gives  as  his 
source,  our  natural  impression  of  skepticism  about 
a  poet  whose  works  do  not  exist,  and  who  is  not 
mentioned  by  any  other  writer  of  his  time,  must 
not  stand  in  the  way  of  the  broader  judgment  of 
those  authorities  who,  while  acknowledging  the 
lack  of  real  proof,  nevertheless  are  able  to  see 
indications  that  this  poet  was  not  a  myth.  Thus 
that  eminent  writer  Fauriel,  although  referring 
to  Kiot  as  "nom  inconnu  parmi  ceux  des  trouba- 
dours,"  nevertheless  states  his  belief  that  such  a 
Provencal  poet  existed  and  that  his  work  was 
used  by  Wolfram.2  There  have  been  noted  cer- 
tain indications  of  French  influence  in  Wolfram's 
Parzival  which  seem  to  indicate  a  French  source. 

However,  even  if  the  existence  of  this  poet  be 
conceded,  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  he 
obtained  the  entire  story  as  related  in  Parzival 
from  an  Arabic  manuscript  found  at  Toledo.  If 
this  idea  were  literally  true,  and  if  the  mysterious 
document  contained  not  only  the  story  of  the  Grail 
but  also  a  reference  to  the  Swan-Knight,  a  fascinat- 

1  Fauriel's  Histoire  de  la  Poesie  Provenfale,  vol.  ii.,  chap, 
xxvii. 

2  Fauriel's  Histoire  de  la  Poesie  Provenfale,  vol.  iii.,  chap, 
xl.,  p.  290. 


26      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

ing  field  of  research  would  be  opened;  and  perhaps 
the  Oriental  origin  of  the  Swan-Knight  story, 
claimed  by  some,  would  in  time  be  proved.  The 
text  of  Wolfram's  poem  appears,  however,  to 
indicate  that  the  subject  of  our  present  studies 
was  not  mentioned  in  the  Arabic  manuscript. 
In  the  part  of  the  poem  (Book  IX.)  which  gives  the 
detailed  story  of  the  discovery  at  Toledo  it  is 
stated  that  Kiot  found  a  manuscript  relating  the 
tale  of  the  Grail  by  Flegetanis,  and  that  there- 
after he  sought  for  the  story  in  the  Latin  chronicles 
of  various  nations,  and  finally  found  in  the 
chronicles  of  Anjou  the  detailed  narrative  of 
Parzival  and  his  ancestors  which  Wolfram  repeats. 
Thus  there  seems  to  be  a  clear  implication  of  a 
double  source,  so  that  at  least  we  may  conclude 
that  the  Toledo  manuscript  said  nothing  of  the 
Swan-Knight.  It  is  true  that  in  the  previous 
book  of  Wolfram's  poem  (Book  VIII.)  there  is  a 
phrase  which  appears  to  indicate  that  Kiot  found 
the  story  of  Parzival  in  the  heathen  book,  but  this 
passage  is  merely  a  parenthetical  reference,  made 
briefly  and  in  a  very  general  and  cursory  way ;  and 
it  is  manifestly  of  little  importance  in  comparison 
with  the  detailed  and  contradictory  statement 
which  follows  it.1 

»  In  Legends  of  the  Wagner  Drama,  by  Jessie  L.  Western, 


Origin  of  the  Lohengrin  Story      2  7 

There  remains  the  possibility  that  there  may 
have  been  a  reference  to  the  Swan-Knight  in 
some  Angevin  chronicle  which  was  known  to 
Kiot  but  is  not  now  in  existence.  This,  how- 
ever, is  entirely  conjectural,  and  the  theory  is 
opposed  by  the  indications  that  Wolfram'  ref- 
erence at  the  close  of  his  poem  is  of  his  own 
creation. 

As  to  Chretien,  we  know  that  he  wrote  under 
the  patronage  of  Count  Philip  of  Flanders,  and 
we  have  his  own  statement  that  the  Count  com- 
manded him  to  put  into  verse  the  best  story 
known  to  the  Court — the  story  of  the  Grail;  and 
further,  that  the  Count  gave  him  the  book  in 
which  the  story  was  contained.1  This  book  is  one 

reference  is  made  to  the  statement  that  the  legend  of  the 
Grail  originated  in  the  Arabic  manuscript,  and  the  author 
adds:  "The  truth  of  this  statement  may  be  gauged  by  the 
fact  that  the  same  MS.  is  stated  to  have  contained  the  story 
of  Parzival,  the  Aryan-Celtic  origin  of  which  is  beyond 
doubt"  (p.  181). 

1  The  passage  is  given  thus  in  Potvin's  edition  of  Perceval 
le  Gallois,  vol.  ii.,  p.  17 : 

"Or  contera  Crestiiens  ci 
L'essample  que  ave"s  oi ; 
Dont  ara  bien  sauve  sa  paine 
Crestiiens  qui  entent  et  paine, 
Par  le  comandement  le  Conte 
A  rimoier  le  meillor  conte 
Qui  soit  conte"s  en  court  roial ; 
Cou  est  li  contes  del  Gre'al, 


28      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

of  the  lost  treasures  of  literature.  If  the  manu- 
script is  ever  discovered  it  will  be  hailed  with 
delight  by  all  students  of  the  Grail  legends. 

Concerning  the  two  lost  books  which  have  just 
been  referred  to,  a  plausible  theory  has  been 
suggested,  viz.:  that  Wolfram's  source,  Kiot's 
book,  was  in  turn  based  upon  Count  Philip's  book, 
the  direct  source  of  Chretien's  poem,  so  that  Chre- 
tien's authority  was  at  first  hand  while  Wolfram's 
was  at  second  hand.1  This  would  explain  Wol- 
fram's reference  to  Chretien,  mentioned  on  a 
previous  page. 

Returning  now  to  the  Lohengrin  passage  in 
Parzival  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  no  clear 

Dont  li  Quens  li  balla  le  livre ; 
S'ore's  coment  il  se  delivre." 

Potvin  also  gives  (p.  308)  the  following  version  from  another 
manuscript : 

"  Done  aura  bien  sauve  la  painne 
Crestiens  qui  entent  et  painne, 
A  rimoier  1'eure  et  lor  conte, 
Par  le  commandement  du  Conte, 
Qui  soit  conte"  en  cort  roial; 
Ce  est  li  contes  du  Graal 
Done  li  Quens  li  bailla  le  livre; 
Oiez  comment  il  s'en  delivre." 

It  is  proper  to  add  that  William  Wells  Newell,  in  his  book 
King  Arthur  and  the  Table  Round,  p.  xxiii.,  refers  to  this  story 
of  the  Count's  book,  and  claims  that  implicit  reliance  cannot 
be  put  in  it — holding  that  the  introduction  in  which  it 
occurs  is  not  of  unquestioned  authenticity.  The  story  is, 
however,  accepted  by  other  writers  of  the  highest  standing. 

*  See  the  notes  on  the  translation  of  Parzival  by  Jessie 
L.  Weston,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  193,  194. 


Origin  of  the  Lohengrin  Story      29 

and  specific  indications  in  that  poem  that  the 
passage  came  from,  or  was  suggested  by,  the  work 
of  Kiot;  and  that  in  fact  the  opposite  conclusion 
is  suggested.  Moreover,  when  we  examine  Chre"- 
tien's  poem,  written  somewhat  earlier,  on  the  same 
subject,  bearing  a  close  resemblance  to  Wolfram's, 
and  based  to  some  extent  on  the  same  material, 
we  find  not  only  no  trace  of  Lohengrin,  but  in  fact 
no  reference  to  the  elaborated  story  of  the  Swan- 
Knight — with  the  exception  of  a  passage  written 
by  one  of  the  continuators  who  lived  later  than 
Wolfram,  and  which  refers  to  a  form  of  the  legend 
never  associated  with  Lohengrin. 

It  would  therefore  seem  to  follow  that  there  is 
no  proof,  and  in  fact  no  indication,  that  the  identi- 
fication of  Lohengrin  with  the  Knight  of  the  Swan 
has  any  earlier  origin  than  in  Wolfram's  poem. 

Starting  then  from  this  conclusion,  we  are 
impelled  to  seek  the  reason  for  the  addition  of  a 
passage  which  was  so  foreign  to  the  subject-matter 
of  the  original  poem ;  and  we  find  an  explanation 
which  is  reasonable  and  probable.  The  legend 
of  the  Swan-Knight  was  widely  known,  and 
Wolfram  may  have  seen  that  the  interest  in  the 
life  of  Parzival  would  be  much  stimulated  by 
identifying  his  son  Lohengrin  with  the  hero  of 
that  legend.  Moreover,  although  the  attempt  to 


30      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

do  this  in  a  way  which  would  suggest  the  possi- 
bility that  the  addition  was  a  part  of  the  original 
story  would  not  be  considered  as  consistent  with 
the  ethics  of  the  present  day,  nevertheless  this 
procedure  would  be  entirely  in  accord  with  the 
literary  usages  of  the  times  in  which  Wolfram 
lived.  The  standards  of  literary  honesty  and 
accuracy  in  the  I3th  century  did  not  correspond 
with  those  of  the  present  day. 

The  theory  that  Wolfram  made  use  of  this  means 
to  add  to  the  interest  of  his  work  is  strengthened 
if  we  conclude,  as  may  be  shown  later  on,  that  the 
original  legend  of  the  Swan-Knight  had  already 
been  fashioned  into  an  elaborated  story  with  a 
hero  of  definite  personality;  and  it  is  not  at  all 
improbable  that  this  story  may  have  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  Wolfram  and  suggested  to  his  mind 
that  an  adaptation  of  it  would  add  desirable  fea- 
tures to  his  own  poem.  This  also  would  have  been 
a  not  unusual  procedure.  The  writers  of  that 
period  did  not  hesitate  to  borrow  or  rewrite  the 
material  of  other  authors ;  and  in  fact  their  practice 
in  this  respect  has  been  referred  to  as  a  sort  of 
literary  decalcomanie.  The  idea  is  highly  sugges- 
tive, even  if  the  criticism  is  not  entirely  deserved.1 

i  In  L'Histoire  Litt£raire  de  la  France,  vol.  xxv.,  p.  509, 
reference  is  made  to  this  general  subject,  as  follows:  "Dans 


Origin  of  the  Lohengrin  Story      31 

It  is,  furthermore,  interesting  to  note  that  in 
the  closing  lines  of  the  poem,  where  Wolfram 
repeats  his  indebtedness  to  Kiot  for  the  story,  he 
apparently  indicates  that  the  winning  of  the  Grail 
is  the  end  of  Kiot's  tale,  so  that  this  would  imply 
that  the  Lohengrin  addition  was  not  in  the  original. 
The  passage  is  not  clear,  so  the  argument  is  not 
conclusive,  but  the  language  employed  is  sugges- 
tive of  this  idea. 

One  reason  which  points  toward  the  borrowing 
of  a  current  idea  rather  than  towards  the  contribu- 
tion of  original  matter,  is  found  in  the  brevity 
of  the  narrative,  which  is  particularly  noticeable 
when  we  remember  the  prolixity  of  mediaeval 
writers.  The  story  of  Parzival  is  spun  out  to  the 
tedious  length  of  about  25,000  lines;  and  yet  the 
subsidiary  story  of  Lohengrin  is  contained  in 
about  100  lines.  It  does  not  seem  possible  that  an 
original  tale,  including  elements  of  great  interest, 
and  affording  opportunity  for  note  worthy  dramatic 
situations,  could  be  treated  with  surpassing  brev- 
ity by  any  writer  of  that  age .  Moreover,  the  sudden 
transfer  of  the  scene  of  action  to  the  Netherlands 
seems  to  suggest  the  presence  of  some  influence 
which  is  not  apparent  on  the  face  of  the  narrative. 

ces  temps-la,  on  s'inquietait  fort  peu  de  ce  que  nous  appelons 
la  proprie'te'  HtteYaire. " 


3  2      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

On  the  other  hand,  if  it  is  true  that  the  elabora- 
tion of  the  Swan  legend,  with  characters  and  places 
drawn  from  other  countries,  was  already  known, 
and  recited  here  and  there  as  one  of  the  current 
chansons  of  the  time,  Wolfram  might  very  natu- 
rally have  seen  the  advantage  of  linking  the 
Parzival  story  with  this  legend  of  the  Swan- 
Knight,  modifying  the  latter  to  such  an  extent  as 
suited  his  purpose.  It  would  have  been  entirely 
consistent  with  contemporary  practices  if  he  had 
done  so ;  and  in  such  a  case  a  brief  narrative  would 
have  been  all  that  the  occasion  required. 


NOTE. — In  Romania,  vol.  xxvii.,  M.  Gaston  Paris  reviewed 
an  article  by  Prof.  Blote  in  Zeitschrift  fur  Deutsches  Altertum, 
vol.  xlii.,  in  which  the  opinion  was  expressed  that  Wolfram's 
account  of  the  Swan-Knight  legend  was  original  with  him. 
M.  Paris  states  that  he  is  in  full  accord  with  this  opinion. 
This  corroboration  of  the  conclusions  reached  in  the  fore- 
going chapter  did  not  come  to  the  present  writer's  notice 
until  after  the  chapter  had  been  finished. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  STORY  OF  HELYAS — EARLY  POETIC  VERSIONS 

HPHE  study  of  the  story  of  Helyas  takes  us  back 
to  the  period  of  the  First  Crusade.  The 
stirring  events  of  that  time  served  as  an  inspira- 
tion for  various  poems,  more  or  less  historical  in 
character,  which  celebrated  the  occurrences  of 
the  Crusade  and  the  men  who  distinguished  them- 
selves in  it.  Some  of  these  chansons  de  geste  were 
evidently  written  by  men  who  directly  partici- 
pated in  the  events  or  were  witnesses  of  them. 

There  are  now  in  existence  a  few  manuscripts 
containing  a  collection  of  poems,  varying  in 
authorship  and  in  age,  which,  by  reason  of  their 
union  in  the  manuscripts  and  the  affinity  of  their 
subjects,  are  known  collectively  under  the  title 
Le  Roman  du  Chevalier  au  Cygne  (The  Romance  of 
the  Knight  of  the  Swan).  The  separate  poems 
which  are  comprised  in  this  romance  were  not 
composed  in  the  chronological  order  of  the  narra- 
tive, nor  do  they  all  exist  in  the  exact  form  in 
which  they  were  composed.  Moreover,  the  manu- 
3  33 


34      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

scripts  vary  in  their  texts.  It  follows,  therefore, 
that  the  internal  evidence  obtainable  from  the 
manuscripts  themselves  must  be  the  main  source 
from  which  their  value  and  their  age  must  be 
ascertained.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the  critical 
study  of  these  manuscripts  should  thus  far  have 
been  made  only  in  a  partial  degree,  so  the  available 
material  is  much  less  extensive  than  one  could 
wish,  and  the  examination  of  the  subject  is  at- 
tended with  much  difficulty. 

There  are  at  the  present  time  in  the  libraries 
of  Paris  six  manuscripts  containing  part  or  all 
of  the  work  in  its  poetical  form,  viz.,  five  in  the 
Bibliotheque   Nationale  and  one  in  the   Biblio- 
theque  de   1' Arsenal.     The   manuscripts   in   the 
first-named  library  are  numbered  as  follows : 
1621  formerly  7628 
786          "       7190 

795  7*92 

12558  5 4oL  (supplement  f ran cais) 

12569          "         105 

All  these  manuscripts  are  believed  to  be  of  about 
the  1 3th  century;  the  first  and  the  fourth  un- 
doubtedly contain  the  most  ancient  forms  of  the 
story. 

The  manuscript  in  the  Bibliotheque  de  1'Arsenal 
is  of  special  interest  because  it  bears  a  definite  date, 


The  Story  of  Helyas  35 

viz.,  1268,  and  thus  shows  that  all  the  divisions  of 
the  poem  were  united  into  one  work  not  later  than 
the  year  mentioned.  How  much  earlier  this  may 
have  been  accomplished  cannot  at  present  be 
proved,  but  the  various  divisions  were  all  in  ex- 
istence considerably  earlier  than  1268,  so  there 
is  every  reason  for  believing  that  they  had  been 
assembled  at  some  earlier  period,  and  that  this 
manuscript  merely  happens  to  be  the  earliest 
copy  now  known  which  bears  a  definite  date. 

This  great  work  consists  of  five  parts,  which,  in 
the  order  of  the  events  related,  are  as  follows:  (i) 
La  Naissance  et  les  Aventures  du  Chevalier  au 
Cygne,  also  called  the  Lay  of  Helyas,  (2)  Les 
Enfances  de  Godeffroi  de  Bouillon,  (3)  La  Chanson 
d'Antioche,  (4)  La  Chanson  des  Chetifs,  and  (5) 
La  Chanson  de  Jerusalem.  Another  division, 
intended  to  carry  the  historical  narrative  to  a 
later  date,  is  announced  in  the  manuscripts;  but 
only  two  of  them  contain  it,  and  these  two  are 
considered  to  be  of  later  date  than  the  others. 

La  Chanson  d'Antioche  is  the  oldest  division, 
and  it  is  also,  historically,  the  most  important. 
The  author  was  probably  Richard  le  Pelerin,  who 
made  free  use  of  Latin  chronicles  written  partly  by 
participants  in  the  First  Crusade  and  partly  by 
an  author  who  derived  his  knowledge  from  eye- 


36      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

witnesses.  Its  date  can  be  fixed  as  in  the  second 
quarter  of  the  i2th  century.  In  its  existing  form 
it  is  a  revision  of  the  original  work  made  by  Grain- 
dor  de  Douai  in  the  latter  part  of  that  century. 
It  tells  of  the  Council  of  Clermont  (1095),  the 
work  of  Peter  the  Hermit,  and  the  events  of  the 
First  Crusade  up  to  the  fall  of  Antioch  (1098), 
with  special  reference  to  the  deeds  of  Godfrey 
of  Bouillon. 

La  Chanson  des  Chetifs  was  inserted  to  relate  the 
adventures  of  certain  important  Crusaders  at- 
tached to  Peter  the  Hermit,  who  were  made 
captives,  and  had  many  wonderful  and  even 
miraculous  experiences.  Graindor  de  Douai  is 
thought  to  have  been  the  original  author. 

La  Chanson  de  Jerusalem  resumes  the  historical 
narrative,  and  tells  of  the  capture  of  Jerusalem 
(1099).  In  its  original  form  it  dates  from  about 
1147,  but  this,  like  La  Chanson  d'Antioche,  was 
rewritten  by  Graindor  de  Douai,  and  only  exists 
now  in  this  revision.  This  chanson  is  probably 
not  by  the  same  author  as  the  one  who  wrote 
La  Chanson  d'Antioche. 

The  foregoing  three  divisions  are  not  connected 
with  our  present  subject,  and  therefore  do  not 
call  for  further  consideration  here.  Our  attention 
is  confined  to  the  other  two  divisions  which  tell 


The  Story  of  Helyas  37 

of  the  birth  and  adventures  of  the  Swan-Knight, 
and  the  early  life  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon. 

The  story  in  manuscript  number  12558  is  con- 
sidered to  be  in  an  earlier  form  than  that  of  any 
other  manuscript.  It  is  the  shortest;  it  has  less 
of  the  fabulous  element;  and  it  is  less  burdened 
with  minor  details.  The  tendency  of  the  time 
was  towards  the  expansion  and  elaboration  of 
material,  and  the  addition  of  fabulous  features;  so 
the  other  manuscripts  of  this  story,  which  give 
evidence  of  the  foregoing  tendency,  can  with 
reasonable  certainty  be  assigned  to  a  later  date. 
The  manuscript  states  that  the  story  was  found 
in  the  Monastery  of  St.  Fagon  at  Roncevaux, 
but,  remembering  the  ways  of  mediaeval  writers, 
we  must  not  place  too  much  reliance  on  this 
statement. 

The  narrative  has  been  condensed  by  M.  Paulin 
Paris,1  and  M.  H.  Pigeonneau.2  A  brief  abstract, 
based  on  the  work  of  these  two  writers,  is  here 
given. 

King  Lothaire  reigned  over  a  country  adjacent 
to  Hungary.  One  day,  while  hunting,  he  met  a 
beautiful  maiden,  Elioxe  by  name,  and,  falling 
in  love,  he  persuaded  her  to  become  his  wife. 

1  Histoire  LitUraire  de  la  France,  vol.  xxii. 

2  Le  Cycle  de  la  Croisade. 


38      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

Having  the  gift  of  prophecy,  she  announced  that 
from  their  union  would  be  born  one  who  would  be 
proclaimed  king  in  the  Orient.  She  further  stated 
that  they  would  have  seven  children  at  one  birth, 
six  boys  and  one  girl,  all  of  whom  would  be  born 
with  golden  chains  around  their  necks.  While 
Lothaire  was  absent  engaged  in  war,  Elioxe  died 
after  giving  birth  to  the  seven  children.  The 
King's  mother,  who  had  opposed  the  marriage, 
managed  to  send  the  little  ones  away  to  the  forest 
and  tried  to  arrange  so  that  they  should  be  aban- 
doned there.  Her  messenger,  however,  could  not 
bring  himself  to  do  this,  so  he  left  the  children 
at  the  entrance  of  a  hermit's  habitation.  The 
hermit  cared  for  the  children  for  several  years. 
In  course  of  time  their  existence  was  made  known 
to  the  Queen-mother  by  Rudemart,  an  attendant 
of  the  King.  Believing  that  the  curious  talisman 
around  the  neck  of  each  child  was  closely  related 
to  the  child's  existence  in  some  way,  she  sent 
Rudemart  to  obtain  the  chains.  He  succeeded 
in  obtaining  those  belonging  to  the  six  boys,  who 
were  consequently  changed  at  once  into  swans. 
The  little  girl  managed  to  escape  with  her  golden 
chain,  and  she  was  thus  able  to  retain  her  human 
form.  She  went  after  a  while  to  the  city  where 
Lothaire  lived,  and  there  found  the  six  swans. 


The  Story  of  Helyas  39 

The  recognition  was  mutual,  and  the  attitude  of 
the  swans  and  the  little  girl  toward  one  another 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Kingf.  Having 
heard  her  story,  the  King  sought  to  restore  the 
chains  but  could  only  obtain  five,  because  one  had 
been  melted.  Five  of  the  boys  were  accordingly 
restored  to  human  form,  while  the  sixth,  lacking 
his  chain,  remained  a  swan. 

The  five  boys  grew  up,  and  became  knights. 
The  history  henceforth  is  confined  to  one  of  these 
knights,  who,  leaving  the  city  in  a  boat  drawn 
by  his  brother,  the  swan,  went  to  Nimegue  where 
the  Emperor  resided. 

The  Duchess  of  Bouillon  and  her  daughter 
Beatrix  were  at  that  moment  imploring  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Emperor  against  R6nier,  Duke  of 
Saxony,  who  claimed  their  heritage.  The  Swan- 
Knight  undertook  to  defend  the  Duchess'  cause ; 
an  assembly  was  held  in  the  great  hall  of  the 
palace,  the  combat  was  arranged,  and  Renier  was 
defeated  and  slain. 

The  Swan-Knight  married  Beatrix,  but  made 
her  promise  never  to  ask  his  name  or  his  country, 
explaining  that  if  she  broke  her  promise  he  would 
have  to  leave  her.  A  daughter  was  born  to  them, 
Ida  by  name;  and  when  this  child  was  seven 
years  old,  the  mother  asked  of  her  husband  the 


40     The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

forbidden  questions.  The  Swan-Knight  sadly  pre- 
pared to  follow  the  course  he  had  predicted  would 
be  inevitable.  He  went  to  Nimegue,  found  the 
swan-boat  waiting  for  him,  and  departed  for  ever. 
He  left  his  wife  an  ivory  horn  which  would  exercise 
a  mysterious  protection  over  her.  One  day  the 
castle  caught  fire,  and  the  horn  was  forgotten; 
but  a  swan  suddenly  appeared,  plunged  into  the 
flames,  seized  the  horn,  and  flew  away. 

Ida  married  Eustache,  Count  of  Boulogne. 
Beatrix  had,  at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  received 
a  revelation  from  heaven  that  her  daughter  would 
be  the  mother  of  a  king,  a  duke,  and  a  count.  This 
prophecy  was  fulfilled  in  the  three  sons  of  Ida, 
Godefroi,  King  of  Jerusalem,  Baudouin,  Duke  of 
Rohais  and  Edesse,  and  Eustache,  Count  of 
Boulogne.  Godefroi,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years, 
became  a  knight,  and  went  to  the  Emperor's 
court  at  Nimegue. 

The  narrative  is  now  abruptly  transferred  to 
Mecca,  where  Calabre,  a  Saracen,  using  her  pro- 
phetical gift,  foretold  that  Jerusalem  would  be 
captured  by  the  three  sons  of  Eustache  de  Bou- 
logne. Cornumarant  was  sent  to  Europe  to  see 
the  renowned  Godefroi  and  try  to  dispose  of  him. 
He  arrived  finally  at  the  Abbey  of  Saint  Trond 
near  Liege,  and  was  recognised  by  the  Abbe 


The  Story  of  Helyas  4* 

Gerard,  who  had  been  in  Jerusalem.  He  con- 
fessed his  mission,  but  asked  permission  to  see 
Godefroi.  A  meeting  was  arranged  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  spy  should  be  impressed  with  the 
grandeur  and  power  of  Godefroi.  Cornumarant 
was  duly  overwhelmed  with  the  display,  and  the 
future  rivals  parted  with  expressions  of  mutual 
esteem. 

This  manuscript  presents  a  wonderful  example 
of  artistic  penmanship;  and  the  work  of  illustra- 
tion is  so  beautifully  done  that  one  is  filled  with 
admiration  at  its  delicacy. 

The  other  one  of  the  two  oldest  manuscripts, 
i.  e.,  number  1621  (formerly  7628),  is  unfortun- 
ately incomplete — some  of  the  earliest  leaves 
having  been  torn  out.  Messrs.  Pigeonneau  and 
Hippeau  have  both  reconstructed  the  missing 
part  by  comparison  with  other  manuscripts,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  works  of  the  authors  men- 
tioned in  the  note  at  the  close  of  this  chapter. 
M.  Hippeau  reconstructs  the  text  itself,  taking 
the  missing  lines  from  manuscript  105;  and  he 
states  that  this  merely  results  in  unimportant 
orthographic  differences  between  the  two  parts. 
M.  Pigeonneau's  reconstruction  is  only  in  the  form 
of  an  abstract,  reproducing  the  substance  of  the 
missing  leaves  by  comparison  with  other  manu- 


42      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

scripts,  and  particularly  with  a  prose  version 
which  seems  to  correspond  closely  with  the  one 
under  consideration.  The  two  writers  appear 
to  arrive  at  practically  the  same  narrative,  but  it 
follows  that  the  earliest  lines  in  the  story  thus 
given  do  not  necessarily  indicate  the  text  of  the 
original  manuscript.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  reconstruction  is  substantially  the  same 
as  the  part  which  is  lost,  but  its  accuracy  can  only 
be  inferred,  not  proved. 

However,  without  discussing  details,  it  may  be 
briefly  stated  that,  from  the  part  of  the  manu- 
script which  is  left  to  us,  certain  features  of  the 
missing  part  are  clearly  indicated.  The  King  is 
here  named  Oriant,  and  he  reigns  over  the  country 
of  L'Islefort  or  Lillefort.  His  Queen  is  Beatrix, 
and  his  mother's  name  is  Matabrune.  The  chains 
are  of  silver,  not  of  gold  as  in  the  previous  version, 
although  in  one  or  two  instances  the  material  is 
referred  to  as  gold,  but  this  may  possibly  have 
been  done  to  help  the  rhythm.  The  child  who 
escapes  with  his  chain  is  one  of  the  boys  instead 
of  the  girl;  and  his  name  is  Elyas.  He  is  led  to 
go  to  Lillefort;  and  the  incomplete  manuscript 
begins  at  the  point  where  Elyas  arrives  just  in 
time  to  save  the  life  of  his  mother,  who,  in  this 


The  Story  of  Helyas  43 

version,  does  not  die  when  the  children  are  born, 
but  lives  to  face  a  foul  accusation. 

The  manuscript  relates  that  five  of  the  chains  are 
restored  to  the  children,  who  recover  their  human 
form,  but  one  of  the  boys  is  obliged  to  remain  a 
swan,  as  his  chain  cannot  be  found.  Oriant  abdi- 
cates the  throne  in  favour  of  Elyas,  but  he  in  turn 
relinquishes  his  authority  to  one  of  his  brothers, 
and  leaves  the  country  in  a  boat  drawn  by  his 
brother,  the  swan.  In  due  time  he  arrives  at 
Nimegue,  where  the  Emperor  Otto  is  holding 
court. 

From  this  point  the  story  of  the  Swan-Knight 
follows  on  practically  the  same  lines  as  in  the 
earlier  version.  Cornumarant's  journey  to  Europe 
is  given  with  more  detail,  and  there  is  added  an 
account  of  sundry  events  after  his  return  to  the 
East. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  first  of  the  manuscripts 
mentioned  above  treats  of  the  Swan-Knight  anony- 
mously, while  the  second  manuscript  gives  him  the 
name  Elyas.  We  have  thus  apparently  an  indica- 
tion of  the  time  when  this  legendary  hero  first 
received  the  name  of  Elyas  (or  HeUias) ,  and  it 
remains  to  be  seen  if  the  date  can  be  fixed  with 
any  degree  of  accuracy. 


44     The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

No  reference  is  made  here  to  the  'remaining 
contents  of  the  foregoing  manuscripts,  as  the 
present  studies  are  confined  to  the  story  of  the 
Swan-Knight. 


NOTE. — The  following  books  may  be  mentioned,  among 
others,  as  giving  interesting  details  on  the  subject-matter  of 
this  chapter: 

Histoire  Litter aire  de  la  France,  vols.  xxii  (1852)  and  xxv 
(1869),  articles  by  A.  Paulin  Paris. 

Les  Manuscrits  Francois  de  la  Bibliotheque  du  Roi,  vol. 
vi.  (1845),  A.  Paulin  Paris. 

Le  Cycle  de  la  Croisade  et  de  la  Famille  de  Bouillon  (1877), 
H.  Pigeonneau. 

Bibliotheque  de  VEcole  des  Charles,  vol.  ii.  (1840-41),  Leroux 
de  Lincy. 

La  Chanson  du  Chevalier  au  Cygne,  C.  Hippeau,  1874. 

Romania,  vols.  xix.  (1890),  xxiii.  (1894),  xxviii.  (1899),  and 
xxx.  (1901). 

La  Naissance  du  Chevalier  au  Cygne  (1889),  Henry  Alfred 
Todd,  in  the  Publications  of  the  Modern  Language  Association 
of  America,  vol.  iv. 

The  Romance  of  the  Chevekre  Assigne  (1868),  Henry  H. 
Gibbs. 

Chronique  Rimee  de  Philippe  Mouskes,  edited  by  Baron  de 
Reiffenberg,  1838. 

Monuments  pour  servir  a  VHistoire  des  Provinces  de  Namur 
de  Hainaut  et  de  Luxembourg,  edited  by  Baron  de  Reiffenberg, 
vols.  iv.,  v.,  and  vi.,  1846-1850. 

The  works  of  Reiffenberg,  Paulin  Paris,  and  Pigeonneau 
give  the  most  comprehensive  treatment  of  the  subject  in  the 
light  of  the  information  available  at  their  respective  periods. 
With  this  general  indication,  it  is  deemed  unnecessary  to  give 
foot-note  references  for  the  various  statements. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  STORY  OF  HELYAS  (CONTINUED) — OTHER  POETIC 
VERSIONS 

IN  the  preceding  chapter  reference  has  been  made 
to  the  earliest  two  versions  of  the  story,  both 
of  which  comprise  two  divisions  or  parts,  viz., 
the  birth  of  the  Swan-Knight,  and  the  early  life 
of  Godfrey. 

M.  Pigeonneau,  in  his  consideration  of  the 
earliest  version  (which  does  not  mention  Elyas, 
see  MS.  12558),  thinks  the  second  part  (i.  e.,  Les 
Enfances  de  Godefroi)  was  composed  between  1160 
and  1 1 80.  He  shows  that  the  history  of  Guillaume 
de  Tyr  mentions  the  prediction  of  the  great  fu- 
ture assured  to  the  three  sons  of  Ida,  and  also 
the  duel  in  which  Godfrey  engaged,  not  mentioned 
in  any  previous  history;  so  it  seems  reasonable 
to  conclude  that  the  version  of  the  Swan-Knight 
story  we  are  considering  existed  when  Guillaume 
wrote.  Moreover,  Cornumarant's  journey  to  Eu- 
rope is  here  described  as  by  the  land  route,  which 
was  the  customary  one  up  to  the  time  of  the  Third 

45 


46      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

Crusade  (1189-1192),  whereas  in  other  manu- 
scripts the  journey  is  by  sea,  as  was  customary 
after  the  Third  Crusade.  M.  Pigeonneau  also 
calls  attention  to  the  passage  in  La  Chanson 
d'Antioche,1  mentioned  in  the  first  chapter  of  this 
book,  which  alludes  to  the  arrival  of  the  Swan 
Knight  at  Nimaie  and  to  Godfrey  as  the  Knight's 
grandson — thus  indicating  that  the  story  was  al- 
ready in  existence  at  least  at  the  time  when  that 
poem  was  rewritten;  and  lastly  he  shows  that 
although  there  are  numerous  allusions  to  current 
romances,  no  mention  is  made  of  the  romances  of 
the  Round  Table,  which  were  very  popular  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  i2th  century.  On  the  other 
hand,  as  a  measure  of  distance  in  the  other  direc- 
tion, he  points  out  the  use  of  names  of  historical 
characters  of  the  first  half  of  the  i2th  century — 
among  them  that  of  Gerard,  who  served  as  abbe" 
of  Saint  Trond  from  1145  to  1156. 

1  This  passage  has  been  the  subject  of  some  discussion. 
The  poem,  as  we  have  seen,  is,  in  its  present  shape,  a  revision 
by  Graindor  of  an  earlier  work  by  Richard  le  Pelerin;  and 
this  latter  writer  seems  to  have  made  free  use  of  prior  material 
originating  from  certain  Latin  historians  contemporary  with 
the  Crusades.  No  reference  can  be  found  in  the  works  of 
the  Latin  historians  to  the  material  of  the  passage  in  question. 
It  was  therefore  first  introduced  either  by  Richard,  or  by 
Graindor,  or  in  the  oral  relation  of  some  jongleur  whose  ideas 
were  incorporated  by  Graindor  into  his  revision.  Apparently 
no  direct  evidence  has  yet  been  discovered  to  warrant  our 
assigning  it  to  an  earlier  hand  than  Graindor' s. 


The  Story  of  Helyas  47 

The  first  part  of  this  version  (La  Naissance  du 
Chevalier  au  Cygne),  according  to  M.  Pigeonneau, 
was  written  very  soon  after  the  second  part.  The 
latter,  being  historical,  was  probably  written  first; 
the  romantic  and  miraculous  features  would,  as 
customary  in  these  writings,  have  been  added 
afterwards  as  embellishments;  but  he  thinks 
the  internal  evidence  shows  that  it  followed  at  a 
very  short  interval — certainly  before  the  end 
of  the  1 2th  century. 

M.  Paulin  Paris  has  not  assigned  any  specific 
date  to  this  version,  but  he  considered  it  to  be 
earlier  than  any  other;  and  from  his  belief  regard- 
ing the  age  of  the  next  earlier  version,  as  mentioned 
beyond,  it  seems  clear  that  he  could  not  have  dif- 
fered materially  from  M.  Pigeonneau's  conclusions 

As  to  the  second  version  (which  mentions  Elyas 
by  name,  see  MS.  1621),  M.  Pigeonneau  believes 
that  this  rewriting  of  the  previous  version  was 
made  at  the  end  of  the  i2th  century  or,  at  latest, 
at  the  very  beginning  of  the  i3th  century.  The 
principal  indication  of  this  is  found  in  a  curious 
feature  of  the  story  which  is  common  to  many 
tales  of  that  period,  viz.,  the  introduction  of  pro- 
phecies, made  by  characters  in  the  story,  fore- 
telling historical  events  which  the  author  knew 
had  already  occurred.  Thus,  an  author,  relating  a 


48      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

story,  partly  historical  and  partly  romantic,  would 
make  one  of  his  characters  foretell  events  which 
were  already  historical  facts — the  object  being  to 
throw  a  glamour  of  mystery  around  the  individual 
who  prophesied,  and  thus  add  to  the  interest  of 
the  story.  The  abstracts  of  the  Swan-Knight's 
story  mentioned  above  show  instances  of  this. 
Now,  the  prophecy  of  Calabre  in  this  second 
version  mentions  events  happening  up  to  the 
closing  years  of  the  i2th  century,  and  makes 
various  genealogical  references  to  that  period 
which  M.  Pigeonneau  considers  are  sufficient  to 
base  the  date  of  authorship  as  about  1193-1200. 
M.  Paulin  Paris  corroborates  this  view.  He 
emphasises  the  fact  that  during  Calabre's  prophecy 
a  cloud  arises  before  her  eyes,  and  she  complains 
she  can  see  no  more.  She  had  just  mentioned 
events  which  took  place  about  the  year  1190,  so 
that  this  year  is  apparently  indicated  as  the  ap- 
proximate date  of  composition;  and  she  fails  to 
mention  the  fall  of  Constantinople  (1204),  so  it 
seems  more  than  probable  that,  if  this  event 
had  already  occurred  at  the  time  the  poem  was 
written,  the  appearance  of  the  cloud  which  ob- 
scured Calabre's  vision  would  have  been  postponed 
long  enough  to  have  allowed  her  to  include  this 
important  historical  occurrence. 


49 

It  seems,  therefore,  reasonably  certain  that 
Elyas  (or  Helias),  as  Knight  of  the  Swan,  ap- 
peared in  literature  about  the  end  of  the  i2th 
century. 

A  curious  point  is  mentioned  by  M.  Paulin 
Paris  in  connection  with  the  birth  of  Godfrey  and 
his  brothers.  In  the  manuscript  which  gives  the 
oldest  form  of  the  story  (No.  12558,  as  above), 
it  is  related  that  Beatrix  was  informed  in  a  vision 
that  her  daughter  Ida  would  give  birth  to  a  king, 
a  duke,  and  a  count.  Godfrey  was  elected  King 
of  Jerusalem,  but  when  he  died,  in  the  year  uoo, 
his  brother  Baldwin,  originally  a  duke,  became 
King  in  his  stead.  Now,  if  this  event  had  occurred 
before  the  story  had  been  written,  the  author 
would  most  likely  have  allowed  Beatrix  to  know 
of  two  kings  and  a  count.1  Such  an  opportunity 
of  magnifying  the  glory  of  her  house  would  not 
have  been  missed.  Therefore,  it  seems  there  is 
some  ground  for  believing  that  some  part  at 
least  of  this  story  may  have  been  current  before 
Godfrey's  death  in  the  year  uoo.2  Unless  new 

1  This  is  done  in  manuscript  No.  1621,  which,  as  has  been 
stated,  gives  the  story  in  a  later  form. 

2  Reiffenberg  in   Monuments  pour   seruir,   etc.,   vol.    iv., 
Introd.,  p.  cxxxviii.,  quotes  Guillaume  de  Tyr's  account  of 
a  statement  by  Ida  to  the  effect  that  her  first  son  (Godfrey) 
will  be  a  duke,  the  second  (Baldwin)  a  king,  and  the  third 
(Eustace)  a  count.     According  to  this,  the  kingship  would 


So      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

evidence  is  discovered,  however,  the  first  appear- 
ance of  Elyas  is  not  affected  by  this  theory. 

The  authorship  of  these  combined  stories  of 
Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne  and  Godefroi  is  not  clearly 
defined.  No  indication  is  given  by  the  oldest 
manuscript ;  the  others  appear  to  indicate  a  writer 
named  Renaus  (also  Renaut,  Renax,  Rainsnaus), 
who  was  probably  not  the  original  author  but  the 
rewriter  of  an  earlier  form  of  the  work  in  the  same 
way  that  Graindor  rewrote  the  balance  of  the 
romance,  or  at  least  the  greater  part  of  it.1  M. 
Paulin  Paris  considers  that  the  author  of  the  oldest 
form  of  the  story  was  connected  with  the  Abbey 
of  St.  Trond,  near  Liege,  which  was  regarded  as 
in  a  special  sense  under  the  protection  of  Godfrey 
of  Bouillon.  The  question  of  authorship  would, 
however,  apply  principally  to  the  second  section 
(Les  Enfances  de  Godefroi) ,  since  the  first  section 

belong  to  Baldwin;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
passage  merely  indicates  Guillaume's  interpretation  of  the 
prophecy  as  given  in  the  original  story,  and  would  naturally 
be  affected  by  Godfrey's  brief  tenure  of  office  and  his  un- 
willingness to  accept  the  title,  although  actually  ruling  as 
king. 

1  There  was  a  French  poet  named  Jehan  Renax  or  Renault, 
who  wrote  about  the  end  of  the  1 2th  century.  In  L'Histoire 
Litteraire  de  la  France,  vol.  xviii.,  he  is  identified  as  the 
author  of  this  part  of  Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne.  Two  other 
works  of  his  are  known,  viz.,  the  Lai  d'Ignaures,  and  the  Lai 
de  I'Ombre  et  de  VAnneau. 


is  practically  an  adaptation  to  the  history  of 
Godfrey  of  another  legend  known  as  Les  Enfants 
Changes  en  Cygnes,  which  will  be  discussed  in  the 
next  chapter. 

Our  discussion  of  the  poem  has  thus  far  been 
limited  to  the  two  manuscripts  which  give  the 
story  in  its  oldest  forms.  The  other  three  manu- 
scripts in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  and  the 
one  in  the  Bibliotheque  de  1* Arsenal,  may  be  said 
to  present  a  slightly  different  version,  with  added 
details,  and  they  also  include  an  additional  di- 
vision of  an  inferior  character. 

The  earlier  versions  allow  Elyas  to  pass  into 
obscurity  when  he  departs  from  his  wife  and 
daughter  in  the  swan-boat.  Apparently  it  was 
thought  by  the  later  writers  that  a  reappearance 
of  the  hero,  and  his  participation  in  additional 
creditable  deeds,  would  add  interest  to  the  story. 
The  narrative  is  therefore  expanded.  Elyas 
returns  to  Lillefort,  and,  through  supernatural 
assistance,  is  enabled  to  recover  the  chain  belong- 
ing to  the  sixth  brother,  and  thus  restore  him  to 
human  form.  Elyas  builds  a  chateau  exactly 
like  his  former  castle  at  Bouillon,  and  borrows  the 
name  Ardenne  to  describe  the  surrounding  country. 
He  founds  an  abbey,  which  he  calls  Sainteron 
(borrowing  still  another  name  to  perpetuate  his 


$2      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

memories  of  Bouillon),  and  retires  to  the  monas- 
tery to  end  his  days.  Ponce  and  Abbe"  Ge"rard, 
of  the  original  Abbey  of  Saint  Trond,  near  Liege, 
have  been  to  the  Holy  Land.  Returning  by  sea, 
they  land  by  chance  on  the  shore  of  Ardenne  ( !) , 
recognise  the  reproduction  of  the  Castle  of  Bouil- 
lon, find  Elyas,  and  in  due  season  bring  Beatrix 
and  Ida  to  see  him  at  the  monastery,  where,  not 
long  afterwards,  Elyas  dies. 

A  still  later  poetic  version  is  shown  by  a  manu- 
script in  the  Bibliotheque  Royale  at  Brussels. 
This  has  been  edited  and  annotated  in  a  most 
careful  manner  by  Baron  de  Reiffenberg  in  his 
Monuments  pour  servir  a  I'Histoire  des  Provinces 
de  Namur,  de  Hainaut,  et  de  Luxembourg,  vols.  iv., 
v.,  and  vi.,  1846-1850.  An  examination  of  this 
enormous  work  inspires  the  wish  that  the  earlier 
manuscripts  in  Paris  may  at  some  time  be  sub- 
jected to  similar  textual  criticism  and  erudite 
comment,  with  the  certain  result  of  clarifying 
many  of  the  doubts  and  uncertainties  now  at- 
taching to  the  study  of  the  Swan-Knight  legend. 
Reiffenberg  considered  this  work  to  be  of  the  i3th 
century,  but  later  scholarship  places  it  in  the 
following  century.  This  manuscript  includes  not 
only  the  two  divisions  of  the  chanson  under 
present  consideration,  but  also  other  divisions — 


The  Story  of  Helyas  53 

all  being  rewritten  and  revised  from  the  material 
already  existing.  The  story  of  Helyas  (as  he  is 
called  here)  is  considerably  enlarged.  New  fea- 
tures are  added,  and  some  features  of  the  early 
versions  are  modified  or  omitted.  The  narrative 
of  Godfrey's  life  is  continued  into  the  period  of 
his  maturity.  The  details  of  this  story  will  be 
alluded  to  later.  It  is  sufficient  to  mention  here 
that  this  version  attaches  the  story  to  the  Nether- 
lands even  more  closely  than  those  which  precede 
it.  In  its  authorship,  as  well  as  in  its  material, 
it  is  closely  connected  with  the  region  now  known 
as  Belgium. 

It  may  be  well  to  note  here  that  another  manu- 
script of  this  same  version  is  stated  to  be  at  Lyons. 
It  gives  indications  of  slightly  greater  age  than 
the  Brussels  manuscript. 

The  British  Museum  contains  a  French  poetic 
manuscript  (15  E  VI,  Royal  Collection)  covering 
the  material  of  three  divisions  of  the  romance,  viz., 
Htlias,  Les  Enfances,  and  Jerusalem,  and  giving 
a  version  which  corresponds  in  general  with  the 
manuscripts  at  Paris.  There  is  also  a  short 
English  poem  which  seems  to  be  an  abstract  of  the 
beginning  of  the  French  manuscript.  This  Eng- 
lish poem  was  edited  by  Utterson  in  1820  for  the 
Roxburghe  Club,  and  again  by  H.  H.  Gibbs  in 


54      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

1868  for  the  Early  English  Text  Society  under  the 
title,  The  Romance  of  the  Chevelere  Assigne. 

There  is  also  now  in  the  same  Museum  another 
French  poetic  manuscript  which  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  mentioned  heretofore  in  any  of  the 
works  which  treat  of  this  subject.  It  bears  the 
number  36.615,  and  was  acquired  by  the  Museum 
in  1901  at  the  sale  of  the  manuscripts  belonging 
to  the  Earl  of  Ashburnham,  known  as  the  Barrois 
Collection.  This  collection  was  formed  by  M. 
Paul  Barrois,  deputy  for  Lille,  and  was  bought 
by  Lord  Ashburnham  in  1849.  The  manuscript 
is  mentioned  briefly  in  the  Catalogue  of  Additions 
to  the  Manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum,  1900- 

1905,  where  reference  is  made  to  a  detailed  ac- 
count to  be  given  in  the  Museum's  Catalogue  of 
Romances,  Part  III.  This  latter  volume  is  not 
yet  published,  so  that  the  information  necessary 
for  a  full  understanding  of  the  manuscript  is  not 
yet  available.  From  the  incomplete  information 
at  hand,  the  manuscript  appears  to  include  all  the 
five  divisions  of  the  romance,  and  to  be,  so  far  as 
the  Swan-Knight  story  is  concerned,  a  combination 
of  the  first  two  versions  of  the  Paris  manuscripts 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter.  The  hero 
bears  the  name  Helias.  In  the  catalogue  of 
the  Ashburnham  sale  the  manuscript  is  stated 


The  Story  of  Helyas  55 

to  be  of  the  i3th  century,  but  the  Museum  cata- 
logue places  it  in  the  early  part  of  the  i4th 
century. 

There  remains  one  manuscript  to  be  mentioned 
in  this  review.  It  is  referred  to  by  A.  G.  Kruger 
in  Romania,  vol.  xxiii  (1894),  who  states  that 
the  manuscript  is  in  the  library  at  Berne  (MS.  627) 
and  that  it  had  not  been  previously  mentioned 
in  the  works  which  treat  of  the  Cycle  of  the 
Crusades.  The  manuscript  is  considered  to  be 
of  the  1 3th  century.  It  does  not  contain  those 
parts  of  the  cycle  known  as  the  Chanson  d'Antioche, 
and  the  Chanson  de  Jerusalem;  and  it  contains  no 
reference  to  the  origin  and  childhood  of  the  Swan- 
Knight,  which,  as  we  have  seen  in  a  previous 
chapter,  is  believed  to  have  been  added  to  an 
already  existing  story  of  Les  Enfances  de  Godefroi. 
This  latter  reason,  among  others,  leads  Prof. 
Kruger  to  believe  that  this  manuscript  may  have 
been  prepared  from  some  version  which  is  earlier 
than  any  of  those  now  known.  In  a  recent 
issue  of  the  same  publication,  vol.  xxxviii. 
(1909),  Prof.  Hugh  A.  Smith  treats  this  subject 
in  detail,  and  dissents  from  the  conclusion  that  an 
unknown  earlier  version  was  the  basis  of  the  Berne 
manuscript. 

Another  interesting  feature  of  this  manuscript 


56      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

is  the  connection  which  it  indicates  between  the 
city  of  Mayence  and  the  legend  of  the  Swan- 
Knight.  There  is  a  passage  in  the  poem  where 
the  author  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  story  has 
already  been  related;  and  the  place  where  this 
relation  has  been  made  is  given  as  Nimaie  (Ni- 
megue)  in  the  oldest  Paris  version ;  but  in  the  Berne 
manuscript,  and  in  other  manuscripts  at  Paris, 
Mayence  is  mentioned.  Now  it  happens  that 
"Mayence"  rhymes  with  the  adjacent  lines,  while 
"Nimaie"  does  not;  so  the  question  arises  whether 
an  original  "Nimaie"  was  changed  to  "Mayence" 
in  order  to  complete  the  rhyme,  or  whether  an 
original  "Mayence"  was  altered  to  "Nimaie"  by 
the  copyist  for  reasons  not  stated.  This  will 
illustrate  a  certain  confusion  which  exists  in  the 
different  manuscripts  in  regard  to  other  references 
to  the  two  cities  mentioned  above.  The  subject 
is  considered  in  detail  by  M.  Gaston  Paris  in 
Romania,  vol.  xxx,  where  the  writer  reaches  the 
conclusion  that  the  original  French  version  placed 
the  arrival  of  the  Swan-Knight  at  Mayence,  and 
that  the  allusions  to  Nimegue  are  changes  made 
by  later  copyists  for  reasons  not  stated.  It  re- 
mains to  be  seen  if  later  research  will  confirm 
this  opinion,  which,  although  apparently  reason- 
able, nevertheless  leaves  unexplained  the  motive 


The  Story  of  Helyas  57 

which  in  such  case  may  have  prompted  the  origi- 
nal writer  to  locate  this  part  of  the  story  so 
far  away  from  what  appear  to  be  its  natural 
surroundings. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  SWAN-CHILDREN 

•"THERE  was  current  in  the  Middle  Ages  a 
collection  of  stories  probably  originating  in 
the  Orient,  and  conveyed  thence  orally,  in  whole 
or  in  part,  to  Europe,  which  may  be  generally 
described  in  the  Oriental  forms  as  the  Book  of 
Sindibad,  and  in  the  European  forms  as  The  Seven 
Sages  (sometimes,  The  Seven  Sages  of  Rome) .  The 
work  is  believed  to  have  originated  in  India,  but 
in  the  Eastern  form  there  are  versions  in  Hebrew, 
Greek,  Syriac,  Persian,  Arabic,  and  Old  Spanish, 
so  that  it  is  not  strange  if  variations  exist  in  the 
titles  and  in  the  texts;  and  no  one  form  can  be 
identified  as  the  original. 

Generally  speaking,  the  romance  treats  of  a 
prince  who  has  incurred  the  displeasure  of  his 
father  the  king,  and  is  consequently  in  danger  of 
death.  An  opportunity  is  afforded  to  prolong 
his  life  by  means  of  the  recital  of  stories  by  seven 
wise  men  who  thus  engage  the  attention  of  the 
king  over  a  corresponding  number  of  days. 

58 


The  Legend  of  the  Swan-Children     59 

Four  of  the  stories  in  the  Eastern  versions  are 
found  also  in  the  Western  versions;  the  remaining 
three  are  not  found  in  the  Western  versions,  nor 
are  these  latter  identical  in  their  contents. 

One  of  the  Western  versions  bears  the  title 
Dolopathos,  being  so  called  after  a  king  of  that 
name  who  is  said  to  have  reigned  over  Sicily ;  and 
it  is  this  version  which  has  a  direct  interest  in  the 
line  of  our  present  inquiries,  since  the  seventh 
story  in  the  collection  tells  of  the  children  changed 
into  swans — being  almost  identical  with  the  in- 
troduction to  the  story  of  the  Swan-Knight  as 
related  in  the  previous  chapter,  except  that  no 
names  are  given  to  the  characters  in  the  story. 
In  fact,  the  title  is  Cygni  Eques,  "The  Knight  of 
the  Swan." 

Until  a  comparatively  recent  date,  the  earliest 
known  form  of  the  Dolopathos  story  was  a  French 
poem  by  Herbers  (or  Herbert),  written  early  in 
the  i3th  century,  which  was  an  expanded  transla- 
tion of  an  earlier  Latin  work  in  prose  by  Jean,  a 
monk  at  the  Monastery  of  Haute  Seille.  In  1873 
a  complete  Latin  manuscript  of  Jean's  work  was 
discovered  at  the  Bibliotheque  de  1'Athenaeum 
at  Luxembourg.  It  bears  the  title,  Dolopathos 
sive  opusculum  de  rege  et  septem  sapientibus,  i.e., 
"Dolopathos,  or  the  little  work  about  the  King 


60      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

and  the  Seven  Sages."  Its  date  can  be  fixed  as 
between  the  year  1179  and  the  earliest  years  of 
the  following  century,  but  as  the  work  only  served 
to  record  in  this  form  material  which  either  existed 
already  in  other  written  versions  or  was  current 
through  oral  communication,  a  still  earlier  date 
must  be  assigned  to  the  stories  themselves.  The 
stories  in  the  Dolopaihos  version  which  correspond 
with  any  one  or  all  of  the  other  versions,  Eastern 
or  Western,  are,  by  the  fact  of  such  correspond- 
ence, apparently  connected  with  a  rather  remote 
past;  but  the  story  of  the  Swan-Children,  on  the 
other  hand,  has  no  such  indication,  either  as  to  its 
origin  or  its  age.  It  was  clearly  taken  from  a 
tale  orally  current  at  that  period,  but  there  is 
no  evidence  on  which  to  construct  a  theory  as  to 
the  length  of  its  previous  existence. 

The  feature  of  special  interest  in  this  story  is  a 
passage  which  states  that  one  of  the  boys  could 
not  be  changed  back  to  human  form;  and  it 
continues  in  the  following  words:  "Hie  est  cignus 
de  quo  fama  in  (sternum  perseverat  quod  cathena 
aurea  militem  in  navicula  trahat  armatum,"  i.e., 
"This  is  the  swan  whose  fame  lasts  for  ever, 
because  with  a  golden  chain  he  draws  an 
armed  soldier  in  a  little  boat."  Thus  the  legend 
of  the  Swan-Children,  already  current  orally,  is 


The  Legend  of  the  Swan-Children     61 

coupled  with  the  legend  of  the  Swan-Knight — 
the  latter  story  being  referred  to  in  a  way  which 
implies  that  it  also  was  well-known  and  did  not 
call  for  extended  reference.  We  have  then  two 
nearly  identical  tales,  (a)  the  Dolopathos  version 
of  the  seven  children  with  its  brief  reference  to 
the  Swan-Knight  story  as  a  current  tale,  and  (b) 
the  earliest  Paris  version  of  Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne, 
in  which  the  story  of  the  Swan-Children  is  used 
as  an  introduction  to  an  expanded  narrative  of 
the  adventures  of  the  Swan-Knight. 

The  exact  relation  of  these  two  stories  to  one 
another  is  not  yet  understood.  The  tale  of  the 
Swan-Children  in  Dolopathos  presents  some  indica- 
tions of  a  more  primitive  character  than  the  cor- 
responding part  of  the  Paris  version,  but  it  does 
not  follow  that  the  latter  was  based  on  the  former 
as  an  original.  In  fact  the  Paris  story  may  have 
antedated  the  other  so  far  as  the  time  of  composi- 
tion is  concerned.  It  appears  to  be  now  generally 
believed  that  the  literary  works  which  contain 
our  earliest  known  versions  of  these  two  stories 
are  not  the  earliest  forms  in  which  the  stories 
appeared;  but  that  there  were  some  earlier  forms 
in  which  they  existed,  separately  or  joined  to- 
gether, which  have  never  been  discovered.  It 
would  be  unprofitable  to  attempt  to  construct  any 


62      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

theory  on  the  scanty  evidence  available.  In  fact 
it  may  be  thought  that  we  have  already  wandered 
too  far  from  our  consideration  of  Helyas  and  his 
appearance  in  literature ;  but  the  foregoing  details 
have  been  given  to  indicate  the  possibility  that 
the  last  word  about  Helyas  may  not  have  been 
said,  and  that  he  may  yet  be  shown  to  have  been 
a  character  in  literature  at  an  earlier  date  than 
has  heretofore  been  supposed. 

The  legend  of  the  Swan-Children  seems  to  be 
in  some  way  closely  related  to  the  region  of  Lothar- 
ingia  (i.e.,  Lorraine),  where  some  writers  believe 
it  originated.  Here  at  the  Monastery  of  Haute 
Seille  it  was  preserved  in  the  early  form  mentioned 
above;  and  since  the  tale  of  the  Swan-Knight 
was  evidently  then  and  there  a  familiar  one,  the 
theory  that  this  also  originated  in  that  region 
may  yet  prove  to  be  true.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  German  name  of  the  province, 
Lothringen,  is  the  source  of  the  name  Lohengrin, 
which  may  suggest  a  reason  for  Wolfram  von 
Eschenbach's  identification  of  Parzival's  son  with 
the  current  story  of  the  Knight  of  the  Swan. 

A  version  of  this  tale  is  also  found  in  La  Gran 
Conquista  de  Ultramar,  mentioned  in  the  first 
chapter  of  this  book,  where  Isomberte,  the  daugh- 
ter of  King  Popleo,  is  discovered  by  Count 


The  Legend  of  the  Swan-Children     63 

Eustache  de  Portemise  and  becomes  his  wife. 
The  framework  of  the  story  corresponds  with  the 
French  versions,  but  with  different  proper  names 
as  shown  above ;  and  it  is,  like  the  French  versions, 
used  as  an  introduction  to  the  Swan-Knight  legend. 

An  Italian  story  exists  in  several  editions  from 
the  1 6th  century  onwards  called  Historia  delta 
Regina  Stella  e  Matabrune,  which  is  very  similar 
to  the  tale  of  the  Swan-Children  and  is  apparently 
derived  from  that  tale,  but  says  nothing  about  the 
metamorphosis  of  the  children  into  swans,  and 
makes  no  mention  of  the  Swan-Knight.  This  has 
been  published,  with  comments,  by  A.  G.  Kriiger 
in  the  Publications  of  the  Modern  Language  As- 
sociation of  America  for  1892,  under  the  title, 
An  Italian  Metrical  Version  of  the  Knight  of  the 
Swan.  It  is  interesting  as  a  sidelight  on  our 
subject,  but  is  not  directly  connected  with  the 
Knight  of  the  Swan. 

A  thorough  consideration  of  the  legend  of  the 
Swan-Children  would  involve  investigations  en- 
tirely outside  the  scope  of  this  book.  It  would 
lead  us  into  the  vast  field  of  folk-lore.  The  old 
Celtic  tale  of  The  Fate  of  the  Children  of  Lir,  or 
The  Four  White  Swans,  is,  for  instance,  a  some- 
what analogous  story  which  indicates  a  connection 
of  some  kind;  and  it  may  be  that,  as  research 


64      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

progresses,  some  new  light  may  be  thrown  on  the 
subject  which  will  show  that  the  story  did  not 
originate  in  Lorraine;  but  even  in  this  case  the 
particular  development  of  an  ancient  legend  along 
the  lines  mentioned  in  this  chapter  would  not 
necessarily  be  called  in  question. 


NOTE. — This  tale  is  the  special  subject  of  Prof.  Todd'swork 
mentioned  in  the  note  at  the  end  of  the  previous  chap- 
ter; and  this  in  turn  was  reviewed  in  detail  by  M.  Gaston 
Paris  in  Romania,  vol.  xix.,  1890.  See  also  reviews  of  the 
prose  version  of  Dolopathos,  by  M.  Gaston  Paris,  in  Romania, 
vol.  ii.  (1873),  and  of  the  poetic  version  by  M.  Le  Roux  de 
Lincy,  Paris,  1838;  also,  A  Study  of  the  Romance  of  the  Seven 
Sages,  by  Killis  Campbell,  in  Publications  of  the  Modern  Lan- 
guage Association  of  America  for  1899;  also,  an  article  in  Ro- 
mania, vol.  xxxiv.  (1905). 


CHAPTER  VII 

"  LE  CHEVALIER  AU  CYGNE  " — PROSE  VERSIONS 

•"THE  references  in  preceding  chapters  to  the 
story  Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne  have  been 
confined  to  the  poetical  forms  of  its  earliest  ap- 
pearances and  later  development.  It  was  a 
chanson;  and  it  retained  that  form,  for  the  most 
part,  until  the  revision  of  the  entire  romance  com- 
prised in  the  Brussels  manuscript,  which  probably 
took  place  in  the  i4th  century.  After  this  period 
the  poetical  versions  ceased  to  appear. 

The  chansons  de  geste  were  written  for  hearers 
rather  than  for  readers.  In  the  course  of  time 
there  was  a  demand  for  prose  renovations  of 
these  stories,  generally  resulting  in  considerable 
abbreviation  of  the  interminably  expanded  narra- 
tives of  the  older  forms,  and,  consequently,  in  a 
greater  suitability  for  general  use.  The  earliest 
known  prose  version  of  the  complete  story  of  Le 
Chevalier  au  Cygne  is  contained  in  a  manuscript 
in  the  Biblioth£que  Nationale  at  Paris — number 
781,  formerly  7188.  It  apparently  represents 
s  65 


66      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

an  abstract  of  the  second  earliest  poetic  version 
(i.e.,  MS.  1621  in  which  Elyas  is  mentioned) 
and  is  considered  by  M.  Pigeonneau  to  date  from 
about  1220  to  1240. l  To  what  extent  other  prose 
versions  existed  at  that  early  time  is  not  now 
known;  but,  unless  there  are  undiscovered  manu- 
scripts which  may  yet  see  the  light  of  day,  there 
were  singularly  few  prose  versions  of  this  particular 
chanson  produced  in  the  following  three  centuries. 
There  are  examples  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at 
Oxford,  and  at  the  Royal  Museum  at  Copenhagen ; 
and  the  existence  of  others  may  be  reported  in 
the  course  of  time.  These  prose  versions  belong, 
however,  to  a  time  far  removed  from  the  original 
appearance  of  the  romance,  and  they  present  no 
features  of  special  interest  in  the  line  of  our  present 
investigations.  Moreover,  these  manuscripts  have 
not  been  edited,  so  we  are  deprived  of  the  inter- 
esting information  which  the  critical  comment  of 
scholars  might  furnish. 

The  career  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  formed  the 
subject  of  several  printed  books  which  appeared 
from  the  latter  part  of  the  i$th  century  onward. 
Caxton  printed  in  1481  at  Westminster  Godefroy 
of  Boloyne,  or  the  laste  siege  and  conqueste  of  Jheru- 
salem,  with  many  histories  therein  comprised, 

»  Le  Cycle  de  la  Croisade,  etc.,  p.  186. 


"  Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne"          67 

translated  and  reduced  out  of  French  into  English 
by  me  simple  person  W.  Caxton.  This  was,  how- 
ever, merely  a  retranslation  of  a  French  ver- 
sion of  the  Latin  history  of  Guillaume  de  Tyr, 
and  it  did  not  cover  the  story  of  Godfrey's  miracu- 
lous descent  from  the  Swan-Knight.  There  was 
also  a  similar  book  printed  in  Augsburg  by  Hans 
Baemler  in  1482,  which  is  now  apparently  out  of 
existence;  but  it  was  re-issued  in  the  same  city 
in  1502  under  the  title,  Herzog  Godfried  wie  er 
wider  die  Turgen  und  Hay  den  gestritten,  etc. ;  and 
a  Flemish  version  published  at  Haarlem  about 
1486  is  also  known.  These  German  and  Flemish 
books,  like  Caxton's,  appear  to  be  based  on  Guil- 
laume's  history  and  other  Latin  chronicles,  and 
they  have  no  connection  with  the  Swan-Knight 
story. 

There  is  a  book  which  tells  the  story  of  Helyas, 
printed  at  Antwerp  by  Heyliger,  under  the  title 
Eene  Schoone  Historie  van  den  Ridder  van  avon- 
tueren  Helias,  genaemd  den  Ridder  met  de  Zwaen; 
but  this  unfortunately  bears  no  date,  so  its  age 
is  uncertain.  It  is  not  believed  to  be  nearly  as 
old  as  those  mentioned  in  the  preceding  para- 
graph. According  to  Pigeonneau,  *  the  great  man- 
uscript at  Madrid  which  we  have  mentioned  in 

1  Le  Cycle  de  la  Croisade,  p.  248. 


68      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

Chapter  I.  was  put  into  print  at  Salamanca  in 
1503  by  Hans  Giessen,  but  the  title  of  the  book 
is  not  stated.  It  should  be  remembered,  how- 
ever, that  this  manuscript  covers  a  mass  of 
material  not  connected  with  the  story  of  the  Swan- 
Knight,  so  the  appearance  of  this  legend  in  the 
book  in  question  is  merely  incidental. 

It  is  in  France  that  we  find  a  publication  which, 
if  not  the  earliest  printed  prose  version  of  the 
story  of  Helyas,  is  certainly  the  most  interesting 
of  them  all.  The  full  title  of  this  book  is  as  follows : 
La  genealogie  avecques  les  gestes  et  nobles  faictz 
d'armes  du  tres  preux  et  renomme  prince  Godeffroy 
de  Boulion:  et  de  ses  chevaleureux  freres  Baudouin 
et  Eustace:  yssus  et  descendus  de  la  tres  noble  et 
illustre  lignee  du  vertueux  Chevalier  au  Cygne. 
Avecques  aussi  plusieurs  autres  croniques  d'his- 
toires  miraculeuses:  tant  du  bon  roy  Sainct  Loys 
comme  de  plusieurs  aultres  puissans  et  vertueux 
chevaliers.  It  was  prepared  by  Pierre  d'Esrey  or 
Desrey  of  Troyes,  and  dedicated  to  Louis  XII. 
and  the  Comte  de  Nevers.  This  book,  in  the 
earliest  form  in  which  it  now  exists,  was  printed 
at  Paris  by  Jehan  Petit  in  1504.  In  this  edition, 
however,  the  preface  is  dated  1499,  which  would 
of  itself  indicate  that  the  edition  of  1504  may  not 
have  been  the  earliest  one  issued.  It  is  evident 


"  Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne  "          69 

that  this  book  was  known  widely,  and  considered 
a  work  of  importance.  This  is  shown  by  the 
number  of  editions  which  were  issued;  but  there 
are  singular  discrepancies  in  the  bibliographical 
references  to  its  various  appearances,  and  the 
title  itself  has  been  subjected  to  modification, 
without,  however,  undergoing  any  material 
change.  In  L'Histoire  LitUraire  de  la  France, 
vol.  xviii.,  p.  473,  four  issues  of  the  book  are 
mentioned,  viz.,  1449,  1500,  1511,  and  1589.  The 
first  of  these  dates  is  evidently  a  typographical 
error,  since  it  is  even  earlier  than  the  date  of  the 
Gutenberg  Bible.  It  should  probably  be  1499. 
Brunet's  Manuel  du  Libraire,  etc.,  1861,  mentions 
the  following  editions,  viz.,  Paris,  1511  (folio, 
Michel  le  Noir,  printer) ;  Paris,  1523  (4to,  Philippe 
le  Noir,  printer) ;  Lyons,  1580  (8vo,  Francois 
Arnoullet,  printer) ;  and  two  Paris  quarto  editions 
without  date  issued  by  Nicholas  Chrestien  (who 
worked  about  1550)  and  Jehan  Bonfons  (who 
died  1 568) .  Hoefer's  Nouvelle  Biographie  Gtntrale 
(Firmin  Didot  Freres,  Paris,  1855)  cites  the  three 
dated  editions  alluded  to  by  Brunet,  and  adds 
others,  as  follows,  viz.,  Paris,  1499,  folio,  and  1500, 
4to;  and  Lyons,  1585  and  1589,  both  I2mo. 
Whatever  may  be  the  explanation  of  the  strange 
discrepancies  in  the  enumeration  of  these  various 


70      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

editions  in  bibliographical  works  of  about  the 
same  period,  it  becomes  quite  clear  that  the  book 
was  regarded  as  one  of  unusual  interest.  The 
dates  of  Desrey's  birth  and  death  are  unknown, 
but  he  has  left  several  works  dating  from  the 
latter  part  of  the  i5th  century  and  early  part  of 
the  1 6th  century.  In  his  preface  of  1499  Desrey 
indicates  certain  Latin  chronicles  as  the  source 
of  his  work;  but  this  statement  evidently  refers 
only  to  that  part  of  the  history  which  treats  of  the 
public  life  of  Godfrey  and  his  brothers.  The  early 
chapters,  which  tell  of  the  origin  and  childhood  of 
Godfrey,  have  no  connection  with  any  of  these 
Latin  chronicles.  They  give  in  detail  the  same 
story  as  Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne;  and  they  are,  in 
fact,  almost  identical  with  the  story  of  Helyas 
as  related  in  the  Brussels  manuscript  mentioned 
in  Chapter  V.,  with  the  exception  that  the  narra- 
tive is  here  in  prose. 

Desrey's  book  has  a  special  interest  for  English 
readers.  The  History  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon 
issued  by  Caxton,  the  first  English  printer,  has 
been  mentioned  above.  The  translation  and 
publication  of  this  work  was  very  likely  a  result, 
to  some  extent,  of  Caxton's  sojourn  of  about 
thirty  years  in  the  Netherlands.  At  Bruges, 
where  he  did  his  first  printing,  he  had  the  oppor- 


"Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne"  71 

tunity  of  consulting  the  literary  treasures  of  the 
famous  library  of  Louis,  Count  of  Gruuthuuse; 
and  his  connection  with  the  household  of  Margaret 
of  Burgundy  opened  the  way  for  literary  work. 
It  is  therefore  not  strange  that  he  should  have 
issued,  soon  after  his  return  to  England,  the 
English  translation  of  Godfrey's  life.  This,  how- 
ever, as  we  have  seen,  did  not  touch  upon  the 
story  of  the  miraculous  origin  of  the  hero;  so 
it  naturally  followed  that  Wynkyn  de  Worde, 
Caxton's  assistant  and  successor,  should  have 
printed  in  1512  a  translation  of  the  early  chapters 
of  Desrey's  book  under  the  title  The  Knyght  of  the 
Swanne  ("  Here  begynneth  the  hystory  of  the  noble 
Helyas  knyght  of  the  swanne,  newly  translated 
out  of  frensshe  into  englysshe  at  thynstygacyon  of 
the  puyssaunt  and  illustryous  Prynce  lorde  Ed- 
warde  Duke  of  Buckyngham") .  The  translator's 
preface  shows  that  the  work  of  translation  was 
done  by  Robert  Copland,  and  that  his  patron  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham  claimed  descent  from  the 
Swan-Knight.  Only  one  copy  of  this  book  is  now 
known  to  exist,  viz.,  a  copy  printed  on  vellum 
which  is  in  the  library  of  the  late  Robert  Hoe, 
Esq.,  of  New  York.  Mr.  Hoe  stated  that  this 
book  came  into  his  possession  from  the  library 
of  Lord  Methuen.  A  reprint  of  Wynkyn  de 


72      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

Worde's  book  was  made  by  William  Copland  (son 
of  Robert);  and  of  this  latter  there  is  only  one 
known  copy  in  existence,  which  may  be  found  in 
the  British  Museum. 

These  reproductions  of  Desrey's  book  by  Wyn- 
kyn  de  Worde  and  William  Copland  are  generally 
considered  to  be  mere  translations  of  the  original 
book,  but  there  must  have  been  at  least  some  modi- 
fication in  the  arrangement  of  the  material,  since 
Desrey's  book  contains  only  thirty-eight  chapters 
while  the  two  reproductions  contain  forty-three 
chapters.1 

A  facsimile  of  Wynkyn  de  Worde's  book  was 
issued  in  1901  by  the  Grolier  Club  of  New  York, 
with  an  introduction  by  Mr.  Hoe.2  It  is  a  beau- 
tiful example  of  facsimile  reproduction — not 
only  in  the  typographical  work,  but  also  in  the 
quaint  woodcuts  which  illustrate  the  original 
book. 

In  this  publication  of  de  Worde  we  have  the 

1  The  contents  of  Wynkyn  de  Worde's  book  were  inserted 
from  William  Copland's  reprint  into  A  Collection  of  Early 
English  Prose  Romances  by  W.  J.  Thorns,  London,  1858,  vol. 
iii.  In  the  preface  a  certain  passage  is  mentioned  as  con- 
tained in  the  i7th  chapter  of  Desrey's  book  and  the  aoth 
chapter  of  the  reproduction.  There  is  no  indication  of  the 
cause  or  extent  of  the  variation. 

»  The  History  of  Helyas,  Knight  of  the  Swan,  translated  by 
Robert  Copland  from  the  French  version  published  in  Paris 
in  1504,  etc.,  etc.  The  Grolier  Club,  New  York,  1901. 


"Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne"  73 

latest  and  fullest  development  of  the  story  of 
Helyas.  Since  this  form  of  the  Swan-Knight 
story  is  not  widely  known,  and  is  in  fact  so 
difficult  to  obtain,  an  abstract  of  the  narrative, 
omitting  some  coarse  details,  is  given  below. 

In  the  rich  kingdom  of  Lylefort,  "otherwise 
named  The  Strong  Isle,"  there  reigned  a  King, 
by  name  Pyeron.  His  Queen  was  Matabrune, 
and  their  son  was  named  Oryant  (Oriant),  who, 
after  his  father's  death,  succeeded  to  the  throne. 
One  day,  while  hunting,  Oryant  met  an  attractive 
maiden,  Beatrice  by  name — evidently  of  high 
birth,  as  she  was  accompanied  by  a  retinue  of 
attendants.  She  informed  Oryant  that  he  was  a 
trespasser  on  her  lands.  The  latter,  on  the  other 
hand,  told  the  maiden  that  he  was  the  King,  and 
therefore  only  exercising  his  sovereign  right  of 
hunting  where  he  wished.  Oryant  was,  however, 
so  well  pleased  with  the  maiden  that  he  asked  her 
to  be  his  wife,  and  she  accepted  him.  The  plan 
proved  to  be  a  disappointment  to  the  Queen- 
mother,  who  was  ambitious  that  her  son  should 
connect  himself  with  some  princely  family  ;  and 
while  she  yielded  finally  to  her  son's  wishes,  she 
nevertheless  began  plotting  at  once  to  make 
trouble. 

Some  time  after  the  marriage,  Oryant  was  called 


74      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

away  to  defend  his  kingdom  against  enemies,  and 
he  left  Beatrice  in  his  mother's  care.  The  Queen- 
mother  promised  the  most  affectionate  attention 
to  the  young  Queen,  but  nevertheless  determined 
to  do  everything  possible  to  accomplish  her  ruin. 
In  due  season,  Beatrice  was  delivered  of  seven 
children,  six  sons  and  one  daughter,  each  having 
a  chain  of  silver  around  the  neck.  Matabrune 
accused  Beatrice  of  a  foul  crime,  and  gave  the 
children  to  her  secretary  Markes  to  be  drowned. 
When  he  was  at  some  distance  from  the  city,  he 
repented  of  his  promise  to  kill  the  little  ones,  and 
concluded  to  leave  them  in  the  forest — apparently 
in  hopes  that  they  might  be  found  and  cared  for. 
Here  they  were  discovered  by  a  hermit  named 
Helyas,  who  took  them  to  his  hermitage  and  was 
able  to  provide  for  their  nourishment  by  the  mir- 
aculously opportune  arrival  of  a  white  goat. 

On  the  King's  return  from  his  wars  he  was 
deceived  by  erroneous  reports  of  the  Queen's 
conduct;  and  although  he  was  unwilling  to  put 
her  to  death,  he  nevertheless  cast  her  into  prison, 
but  gave  orders  that  she  should  be  well  cared  for. 

Meanwhile  the  hermit  was  watching  over  the 
seven  little  children,  and  in  due  time  he  bap- 
tised them,  giving  one  of  them  his  own  name, 
Helyas.  One  day,  while  they  were  playing  in  the 


"Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne"          75 

forest,  they  were  seen  by  a  yeoman,  Savary  by 
name,  who  served  Matabrune.  He  reported  the 
discovery  to  the  Queen-mother,  who  promptly 
despatched  Savary  and  other  men  to  kill  the 
children,  but  these  men  also  revolted  from  the  task 
which  was  given  them,  and  decided  that  they 
would  bring  back  the  chains  of  silver  from  the 
children's  necks,  and  tell  Matabrune  that  the 
little  ones  were  dead.  It  happened  that  the  hermit 
had  gone  to  a  neighbouring  village,  taking  little 
Helyas  with  him,  so  there  were  only  six  children 
left  at  the  hermitage.  When  Matabrune's  men 
discovered  the  children  they  began  to  take  the 
silver  chains  from  them,  but,  to  their  astonish- 
ment, as  soon  as  the  chains  were  taken  the  children 
were  instantly  turned  into  white  swans.  Savary 
and  his  men  delivered  the  chains  to  Matabrune, 
accounting  for  the  shortage  of  one  chain  by  saying 
it  had  been  lost  on  the  way  home.  The  Queen- 
mother  ordered  a  goldsmith  to  make  a  cup  out 
of  the  six  chains,  but  when  the  work  was  begun, 
it  was  seen  that  one  chain  alone,  when  melted, 
produced  in  some  miraculous  way  enough  silver 
to  make  two  cups;  so  the  goldsmith  retained  one 
of  these  cups  together  with  the  five  other  chains, 
hiding  the  treasure  away,  and  giving  Matabrune 
the  one  cup  for  which  she  had  asked. 


76      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

The  Queen-mother  continued  to  plot  against 
Beatrice,  and,  with  the  aid  of  a  knight  named 
Makayre,  she  caused  the  King  to  become  so  en- 
raged against  the  Queen  that  a  royal  decree  was 
issued  for  the  latter 's  death  unless  she  should 
find  some  knight  to  make  a  successful  defence  of 
her  cause  in  a  contest  held  for  that  purpose. 

Meanwhile  the  good  hermit  had  not  ceased  to 
mourn  the  loss  of  the  six  little  children  whom  he 
had  cared  for  so  tenderly ;  and  one  night  he  received 
from  an  angelic  messenger  a  revelation  of  their 
true  history.  He  told  the  whole  story  to  young 
Helyas,  adding  that  the  angel  had  announced  that 
the  young  man  should  be  the  successful  defender 
of  his  mother's  life,  and  that  from  his  lineage 
would  come  a  prince  who  would  be  called  Godfrey 
of  Boulyon,  and  who  would  be  the  conqueror  of 
Jerusalem. 

In  due  time  the  day  arrived  for  the  public  con- 
demnation of  Queen  Beatrice  at  the  city  of  Lyle- 
fort,  after  sixteen  years'  imprisonment.  In  the 
middle  of  the  proceedings,  Helyas  arrived,  and 
announced  his  errand,  telling  the  King  the  story 
that  had  been  revealed  to  his  godfather  the  hermit. 
Oryant  promptly  consulted  the  hermit  and  ob- 
tained a  full  corroboration  of  Helyas'  story.  He 
presented  the  hermit  with  a  large  sum  of  money 


"Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne"  77 

for  the  establishment  of  a  church,  and  on  his 
return  home  he  delivered  Beatrice  from  captiv- 
ity and  cast  Matabrune  into  prison.  The  duel 
took  place,  and  Makayre  was  vanquished.  He 
made  a  full  confession,  and  was  hanged. 

Alarmed  by  the  course  of  affairs,  Matabrune 
escaped  from  prison  and  took  refuge  in  her  castle 
Maubruyant. 

Helyas,  having  recovered  the  five  remaining 
silver  chains,  determined  to  seek  again  the  white 
swans  into  which  his  brothers  and  sister  had  been 
changed,  and  he  was  consequently  delighted  to 
see  the  six  swans  suddenly  appear  upon  the  river 
near  the  palace.  Greeting  them  joyously,  he 
commenced  to  place  the  chains  around  their  necks ; 
and,  to  his  amazement,  the  five  swans  which 
received  the  chains  were  changed  back  into  his 
sister  and  four  of  his  brothers.  The  remaining 
swan  was  overcome  with  grief  at  his  sad  fate,  but 
was  comforted  by  the  royal  family. 

After  these  occurrences  Oryant  abdicated  his 
throne  in  favour  of  Helyas,  leaving  him  to  deal 
with  Matabrune  as  he  wished.  Helyas  took  an 
armed  force,  captured  the  castle  of  Maubruyant, 
and  burned  the  wicked  Matabrune. 

Some  time  after,  Helyas  was  looking  towards 
the  river  from  his  palace  at  Lylefort,when  he  saw 


78      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

the  swan,  which  was  his  brother,  leading  a  boat 
to  the  wharf  near  the  palace.  Recognising  a 
supernatural  sign,  he  concluded  that  God  wished 
him  to  go  somewhere  to  do  His  will ;  so  he  resigned 
to  his  father's  hands  the  rule  of  the  kingdom,  and 
took  leave  of  Lylefort.  Guided  by  the  swan,  he 
went  "from  river  to  river"  to  the  city  of  Nymaie 
as  is  hereafter  related. 

At  this  time  Otton,  the  first  of  that  name,  was 
Emperor  of  Almayne,  and  ruled  also  over  the 
land  of  Dardayne,  of  Lyege,  and  of  Nammur. 
The  Emperor  was  holding  a  court  of  justice  at 
Nymaie,  and  in  due  course  he  heard  the  case  of 
the  Earl  of  Frankebourke  against  his  sister-in-law 
Clarisse,  the  Duchess  of  Boulyon,  accusing  her  of 
having  poisoned  his  brother.  The  Earl  claimed  the 
duchy  and  attacked  the  legitimacy  of  the  daughter. 
The  Earl  offered  to  settle  the  dispute  by  mortal 
combat,  and  the  Emperor  directed  the  Duchess  to 
select  her  defender.  At  this  moment  a  horn, 
blown  loudly,  attracted  the  attention  of  the  as- 
sembly, and  looking  out  of  the  windows  they  saw 
Helyas  appearing  in  his  boat,  led  by  the  swan. 
The  Duchess  had  dreamed  the  previous  night  that 
relief  would  come  through  the  appearance  of  a 
swan,  and  she  was  now  filled  with  hope.  Helyas, 
having  entered  the  hall,  was  informed  of  the  pro- 


HELYAS    IN    COMBAT    DEFENDING    THE    HONOR    OF   THE    DUCHESS 
OF    BOUILLON 

(Copied,  by  permission,  from  the  Grolier  Club's  book  The  Story  of  Helyas, 
Knight  of  the  Swan.) 


"Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne"         79 

ceedings  under  discussion;  and  the  Emperor  sug- 
gested that  he  defend  the  Duchess  in  the  combat, 
promising  that  if  he  were  successful  he  might 
have  the  Duchess'  daughter  in  marriage.  Helyas 
won  a  complete  victory  and  put  his  adversary  to 
death.  The  marriage  followed,  and  Helyas  was 
created  Duke  of  Boulyon. 

The  newly-created  Duke  with  his  wife  returned 
shortly  to  Boulyon,  where  they  were  received 
triumphantly,  and  after  a  time  a  daughter  was 
born  to  them,  who  was  called  Ydain. 

One  day  the  Duchess  asked  her  husband  from 
what  country  he  came,  but  he  forbade  her  to  refer 
to  the  subject,  stating  that  if  she  did  so  he  would 
have  to  go  away  forever.  She  restrained  her 
curiosity  for  several  years,  but  finally  she  re- 
peated the  question,  and  soon  found  how  serious 
were  the  consequences.  The  swan  arrived  with 
the  little  ship,  and  Helyas  departed  for  Nymaie, 
affectionately  commending  his  wife  and  daughter 
to  the  knights  attached  to  the  court,  who  were  to 
accompany  the  ladies  to  Nymaie  for  the  final 
farewell.  There  he  explained  to  the  Emperor 
that  he  must  go  back  to  the  country  whence  he 
came,  and,  leaving  his  wife  and  daughter  in  the 
Emperor's  care,  he  entered  the  little  ship  that 
was  in  waiting,  and  was  guided  by  the  swan  back 


8o      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

to  Lylefort.  On  arriving  here,  after  eight  years' 
absence,  he  was  warmly  welcomed  by  his  family. 

Guided  by  a  dream  which  his  mother  had  dreamt, 
they  ordered  the  goldsmith  to  make  two  chalices 
out  of  the  two  cups  which  had  been  fashioned  out 
of  the  chain  of  silver.  They  placed  these  upon  two 
altars,  and  then  laid  the  swan  between  the  altars, 
and  while  the  mass  was  being  said  the  swan  was 
changed  into  human  form  and  the  entire  family 
was  thus  reunited.  The  brother  thus  restored 
was  baptised  Emery,  and  there  was  great  rejoicing. 

After  a  time  Helyas  was  minded  to  go  to  the  site 
of  the  hermitage  where  his  father  had  erected  a 
monastery,  and  devote  himself  to  a  religious  life. 
There  he  built  a  castle  like  the  one  he  had  left  at 
Boulyon,  and  called  it  by  the  same  name.  He 
made  the  place  a  centre  of  trade  for  the  benefit 
of  the  monastery. 

The  Emperor  Otton  in  due  season  married 
Helyas'  daughter  Ydain  to  Eustace,  Earl  of 
Boleyn.  In  the  course  of  years  three  sons  were 
born  to  them,  Godfrey,  Baudwyn,  and  Eustace. 

Meanwhile  the  Duchess  of  Boulyon  had  sent 
messengers  to  divers  countries  to  find  her  husband. 
One  of  these,  a  knight  named  Ponce,  sought 
Helyas  at  Jerusalem,  thinking  that  he  might  have 
made  a  pilgrimage  there.  One  day  he  met  an 


'"  Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne  "          81 

abbot  clothed  after  the  fashion  of  a  French  order, 
who  gave  his  name  as  Gyrarde,  Abbot  of  Sainct- 
eron,  in  Gaul,  not  far  from  Boulyon.  They 
arranged  to  return  home  together,  and,  after 
much  travelling,  they  arrived  in  a  region  which 
they  could  not  identify  but  which  was  in  fact  the 
vicinity  of  the  new  castle  of  Boulyon,  built  by 
Helyas,  as  a  copy  of  the  original  castle  of  Boulyon. 
They  seemed  to  recognise  the  castle,  but  found 
the  surroundings  unfamiliar.  Seeking  informa- 
tion, they  learned  that  the  castle  they  saw  was 
called  "Boulyon  le  restaure"  (i.e.,  restored)  and 
that  it  was  built  by  a  virtuous  knight  called 
Helyas,  son  of  King  Oryant.  The  whole  story 
was  told  to  them,  including  the  reason  for  nam- 
ing the  castle  after  the  original  one,  and  the 
forest  around  it  Dardayne,  in  like  manner.  They 
were  also  informed  how  the  King  and  Queen  had 
come  to  dwell  there  in  the  castle.  Ponce  and 
the  abbot  were  first  received  by  the  King  and  his 
family,  and  then  were  conducted  to  the  religious 
house  where  Helyas  was  found  at  his  devotions. 
Helyas  stated  that  he  could  not  leave  the  life  he 
had  begun,  but  he  sent  affectionate  messages 
to  his  wife  and  daughter. 

Ponce  returned  then  to  Boulyon  in  Dardayne 
where  he  found  the  Duchess  of  Boulyon  and  the 


82      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

Countess  of  Bouleyn,  and  related  the  successful 
termination  of  his  search.  The  ladies  set  out  at 
once  to  find  Helyas,  and  they  arrived  at  the  monas- 
tery in  due  season,  but  found  Helyas  sick  unto 
death.  Not  long  thereafter  Helyas  died,  and  the 
Duchess  was  so  stricken  with  grief  that  she  lived 
but  a  short  time.  The  two  were  buried  before 
the  high  altar  of  the  church,  and  Ydain  returned 
to  Boulyon,  where  she  now  held  the  rank  of  duchess. 
She  trained  her  three  sons  diligently  in  all  virtues, 
and  finally  sent  the  eldest,  Godfrey,  to  the  Em- 
peror at  Nymaie  to  receive  knighthood.  In  course 
of  time  Godfrey  became  Duke  of  Boulyon,  and 
crowned  his  career  by  delivering  the  city  of 
Jerusalem  from  the  Saracens. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  CLEVE  LEGEND,  AND  THE  ORDER  OF  THE  SWAN 


/^VUR  consideration  of  this  legend  would  not  be 
complete  without  some  reference  to  its  as- 
sociation with  the  ancient  city  of  Cleve  and  the 
duchy  which  bears  its  name.  The  so-called 
Cleve  legend  is  not  of  itself  materially  different 
from  the  form  of  the  story  heretofore  related, 
except  in  respect  to  the  omission  to  connect  the 
Swan-Knight  with  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  and  the 
absence  of  any  reference  to  the  story  of  the  Swan- 
Children.  Nor  is  there,  on  the  other  hand,  any 
material  variation  in  the  numerous  tales  which 
are  connected  with  this  city  and  duchy.  The 
essential  point  of  these  stories  seems  to  be  an 
attempt  to  trace  a  genealogical  connection  between 
the  legendary  hero  and  the  house  of  Cleve. 
Similar  attempts  have  been  made  also  in  regard 
to  other  ducal  houses  of  the  Netherlands,  but  in 
no  case  to  such  an  extent  as  with  the  Counts 
and  Dukes  of  Cleve. 

The  earliest  reference  to  this  particular  develop- 
83 


84      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

ment  of  the  legend  is  found  in  Der  Schwanritter, 
of  Konrad  von  Wurtzburg,  dating  from  the  middle 
of  the  1 3th  century.1  The  tradition  itself  may 
have  existed  a  little  earlier.  Konrad' s  poem  has 
already  been  mentioned  in  Chapter  II.,  where  it 
was  cited  as  one  of  the  literary  works  considered 
by  Wagner  in  preparing  his  version  of  Lohengrin. 
Although  of  German  authorship,  the  Schwan- 
ritter poem  does  not  follow  the  lines  of  Wolfram's 
story  of  Lohengrin.  Strange  as  it  may  seem, 
Konrad's  hero  is  anonymous,  and  the  locality 
of  the  story  is  the  city  of  Nijmegen  (Nimegue). 
Briefly  told,  the  narrative  is  as  follows: 

Duke  Godefroid  of  Brabant  left  at  his  death 
his  domains  to  the  Duchess  and  her  daughter. 

1  Cf.  Le  Cycle  de  la  Croisade,  etc.,  p.  241 ;  also  an  article  by 
M.  Gaston  Paris  in  Romania,  vol.  xxvii.,  p.  334,  expressing 
assent  to  a  similar  opinion  indicated  by  Prof.  Blote  in 
Zeitschrift  fur  Deutsches  Altertum,  vol.  xlii.  Reiffenberg,  in 
his  Monuments  pour  servir  a  I'Histoire,  etc.  (vol.  iv.,  In- 
trod.,  p.  Ixiii.),  refers  to  the  Chronique  de  Brogne  (written 
about  121 1)  and  indicates  that  the  heroine  of  the  Swan- 
Knight  story  is  therein  given  as  Beatrix  of  Cleve.  This,  if 
correct,  would  show  a  reference  to  the  Cleve  legend  about  half 
a  century  earlier  than  the  time  mentioned  above;  but  Prof. 
Blote,  when  discussing  Die  Sage  vom  Schwanritter  in  der 
Brogner  Chronik  (Zeitschrift  fur  Deutsches  Altertum,  1900), 
says  that  the  heroine  was  the  Queen  of  Lotharingia,  and 
apparently  finds  no  reference  to  Cleve  in  this  Chronicle.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  inquire  into  this  curious  contradiction 
since  it  does  not  materially  affect  the  statement  in  the  text 
above. 


The  Cleve  Legend  85 

Her  brother,  the  Duke  of  Saxony,  claimed  the 
duchy.  The  Duchess  appealed  to  King  Charles, 
who  held  court  at  Nijmegen.  The  Swan-Knight 
arrived  on  the  scene,  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
Duchess,  was  victorious  in  the  combat,  and 
married  the  Duchess'  daughter.  After  a  time,  in 
accordance  with  the  regular  form  of  the  story,  the 
hero's  wife  asked  the  forbidden  questions,  and 
he  departed  for  ever.  From  their  union  two 
children  were  born,  from  whom  descended  the 
Dukes  of  Cleve  and  of  Guelders,  and  other  princely 
houses. 

The  historical  identification  of  Duke  Godefroid 
and  of  King  Charles  is  not  clearly  established,  but 
this  is  a  minor  matter.  The  approximate  date 
of  the  poem  itself  is  known;  and  any  duke  and 
king  in  any  prior  period  would  answer  its  pur- 
pose, since  it  was  not  written  as  a  historical 
document. 

We  cannot,  of  course,  now  tell  what  influenced 
Konrad  to  make  this  modification  in  the  form  of 
the  story  related  by  his  great  compatriot  Wolfram. 
The  genealogical  possibilities  of  the  Swan-Knight 
legend  had  evidently  been  noticed  by  other  writers 
of  that  period.  A  manuscript  of  Arras  of  the  i3th 
century  has  been  mentioned,  containing  a  gene- 
alogy of  the  Counts  of  Flanders,  and  stating 


86      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

that  "Eustachius  as  Gernons"  married  Ida,  the 
daughter  of  the  Duchess  of  Bouillon  and  ' '  Miles 
Cigni."1 

Later  writers  relate  the  same  story  with  unim- 
portant modifications — particularly  in  the  first 
half  of  the  1 5th  century,  after  the  duchy  of  Cleve 
had  been  created.  One  of  them  places  the  time 
of  the  story  in  the  year  711  at  a  time  when  a 
certain  Dietrich  (or  Theodoric,  or  Thierri),  first 
Count  of  Cleve,  married  his  daughter  Beatrix  to 
the  Swan-Knight,  Helias,  who  arrived  at  Cleve 
in  his  mysterious  boat  by  way  of  the  Rhine. 
Three  sons  were  born  of  this  marriage,  Dietrich, 
Gottfried,  and  Konrad,  who  divided  their  father's 
possessions  at  his  death,  and  thus  prepared  the 
way  for  the  development  of  the  genealogical  pre- 
tensions of  the  various  divisions  of  the  family  of 
Cleve.  Another  writer  tells  a  story  which  is 
practically  the  same  as  the  foregoing  but  places 
the  meeting  of  Beatrix  and  the  Swan-Knight  at 
Nijmegen. 

In  these  various  stories  the  hero's  name  is  gen- 
erally given  as  Helias  or  some  phonetic  equiva- 
lent of  that  name,  thus  connecting  the  narrative 
unquestionably  with  the  romance  of  Le  Chevalier 

i  Reiffenberg's  Monuments  pour  senrir,  etc.,  vol.  iv.,  in- 
trod.,  p.  viii. 


The  Cleve  Legend  87 

au  Cygne;  but  in  others  the  name  has  undergone 
some  modifications.  In  a  scarce  book  entitled 
Handbuch  fur  Reisende  am  Rhein  (Aloys  Schreiber, 
Heidelberg,  n.d.)  the  hero  who  wins  the  hand  of 
Beatrix  is  named  Erlin  von  der  Schwanenburg. 
He  comes  from  Antioch  via  the  Rhine,  bearing  a 
letter  from  the  Count  of  Cleve  which  is  intended 
to  open  the  way  for  his  marriage  with  Beatrix. 
This  is  evidently  merely  one  of  the  many  forms 
of  the  same  legend,  especially  as  the  three 
children  bear  the  same  names  as  those  given  in 
the  preceding  paragraph. 

In  other  modifications  of  the  story  the  hero  is 
called  Elias  Gralius  or  Gracilis,  or  Elie  Grail.  One 
of  these  stories,1  in  which  the  hero  is  called  Elie 
Grail,  relates  practically  the  same  narrative  which 
is  referred  to  above ;  but  in  the  case  of  other  writers 
this  title  is  considered  to  have  a  special  signifi- 
cance, suggesting  a  broader  field.  In  one  case,  the 
knight  is  represented  as  a  descendant  of  a  prom- 
inent Roman  family,  since  Tacitus  mentions  one 
of  the  governors  of  Belgic  Gaul  under  the  name 
^Elius  Gracilis;  while  other  writers  see  in  this 
form  of  the  hero's  name  an  indication  of  an 
attempt  to  connect  the  legend  of  the  Swan- 

1  Cf.  Voyage  fait  en  1813  et  1814  dans  le  pays  entre  Meuse  et 
Rhin,  Baron  de  la  Doucette,  Paris,  1818. 


88      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

Knight  with  the  Arthurian  romances  and  the 
story  of  the  Holy  Grail. 

Thus  the  time  of  the  occurrences  and  the  char- 
acters in  the  story  were  changed  to  suit  the 
tastes  of  the  various  writers,  but  always  with 
the  same  underlying  purpose,  viz.,  to  increase  the 
antiquity  of  the  house  of  Cleve  and  thus  magnify 
its  importance.  There  is  no  object,  however,  in 
endeavouring  to  trace  in  detail  the  various  rami- 
fications of  this  legend  in  its  connection  with  the 
house  of  Cleve.  The  persistent  attempts  to 
glorify  that  house  by  expanding  its  genealogical 
records  were  no  doubt  inspired  by  a  praiseworthy 
local  pride,  but  they  belong  to  romance  rather  than 
to  history. 

We  should,  however,  take  note  of  one  histori- 
cal incident  which  brought  the  Cleve  legend  into 
prominence.  In  the  middle  of  the  i$th  century t 
when  the  house  of  Burgundy  ruled  also  over  the 
greater  part  of  the  Netherland  provinces,  Philip 
the  Good  gave  a  great  banquet  at  Lille  preparatory 
to  the  announcement  of  a  crusade  for  the  recovery 
of  Constantinople.  His  court  was  magnificent, 
far  outranking  in  splendour  that  of  the  King  of 
France;  and  the  banquet  referred  to,  known  as 
the  Fe"te  du  Faisan,  which  was  held  in  the  early 
part  of  the  year  1454,  was  planned  on  a  scale  of  the 


The  Cleve  Legend  89 

greatest  extravagance.  Just  prior  to  this  banquet, 
and  preliminary  to  it,  Adolph  of  Cleve,  Philip's 
nephew,  gave  a  fe"te,  at  which  it  was  announced 
that  at  the  Duke's  banquet  soon  to  follow,  he, 
Adolph,  would  enter  the  lists  at  a  tournament  in 
the  character  of  "Le  Chevalier  an  Cygne,  serviteur 
des  dames, "  prepared  to  meet  any  antagonist;  and 
that  the  victor  of  the  tournament  would  be  re- 
warded with  a  golden  swan  and  a  golden  chain. 
To  give  emphasis  to  this  announcement,  the  prin- 
cipal table  at  Adolph 's  banquet  was  decorated 
with  an  immense  representation  of  the  Swan- 
Knight,  bearing  the  arms  of  Cleve,  and  arriving 
at  the  castle  in  his  little  boat  drawn  by  the  swan 
according  to  the  legend.  The  historian  Olivier 
de  la  Marche,  who  was  attached  to  Philip's  court, 
has  described  the  incident,  and  has  stated  that  he 
was  informed  of  its  special  significance  in  em- 
phasising the  direct  descent  of  the  Dukes  of 
Cleve  from  the  mysterious  Swan-Knight.1  Evi- 
dently the  historians  of  Cleve  were  determined  to 
keep  alive  the  traditions  which  cast  a  mysterious 
glamour  around  their  reigning  house. 

There  are  references  to  a  hereditary  Order  of 
the  Swan  which  it  is  claimed  was  founded  at  an 
early  date  in  commemoration  of  the  Swan- 

1  See  Mtmoires  d'Olivier  de  la  Marche,  Book  I,  chap.  xxix. 


go      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

Knight's  visit  to  Cleve,  but  there  is  little  that  is 
really  known  about  it. 

The  seeker  after  historical  facts  will  find  the 
references  to  this  Order  few  in  number  and  un- 
satisfactory in  character.  It  is  claimed  by  some 
that  the  Order  was  founded  by  Helias  after  his 
marriage  at  Cleve.  Others  state  that  the  founder 
was  Salvius  Brabo,  a  local  personification  of 
the  Swan-Knight  who  was  supposed  to  have 
lived  at  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar,  and  to  whom 
we  shall  allude  in  a  later  chapter.  These 
references  are,  however,  of  a  suspiciously  in- 
definite character;  and  this  fact  suggests  the 
desirability  of  caution  in  forming  conclusions.1 
Even  so  early  as  1719  a  book  published  in  Paris 
under  the  title  Histoire  des  Ordres  Monastiques, 
Religieux,  et  Militaries  made  brief  mention  of  the 
Order  in  a  concluding  chapter  which  treated  of 
"  plusieurs  ordres  militaries  faux  et  supposes,  '* 
thus  indicating  a  doubt  as  to  the  historical  ac- 
curacy of  the  claims  made  with  respect  to  this 
Order.  On  the  other  hand,  in  A  Concise  History 
of  Knighthood  by  Hugh  Clarke  (London,  1784, 
vol.  i.,  p.  205)  will  be  found  the  following  passage : 

»  See  for  example  Dictionnaire  de  la  Conversation  et  de  la 
Lecture,  2d  edition,  Paris,  1868,  vol.  vii.;  also  Dictionnaire 
des  Ordres  Religieux,  etc.,  Paris,  1847,  v°l-  i- 


The  Cleve  Legend  91 

"This  Order  is  said  to  have  been  instituted  in 
Flanders  by  Salvius  Brabo  of  Brabant  about  the 
year  500  [sic]  but  very  little  is  known  relative 
to  the  Order,  except  that  the  badge  of  it  was  a 
swan  enamelled  white,  on  a  green  ground  adorned 
with  flowers,  and  that  it  was  worn  at  the  breast 
pendant  to  three  chains  of  gold.  Having  been 
upwards  of  one  thousand  years  extinct  it  is  un- 
necessary to  say  anything  further  upon  it  here. " 
This  passage  is  accompanied  by  an  illustration 
of  the  badge  and  triple  chain,  from  which  facts 
one  might  infer  that  there  was  some  basis  for  the 
truth  of  the  statement ;  but  it  must  be  noted  that 
this  reputed  founder  was,  according  to  the  legend, 
a  contemporary  of  Julius  Caesar,  so  he  could  not 
have  lived  in  the  year  500,  as  mentioned  above. 
It  is  also  stated  that  in  the  year  1615  Charles 
de  Gonzague  de  Cl£ve,  Duke  of  Nemours,  made 
an  effort  to  re-establish  the  Order,  so  we  may 
fairly  conclude  that  there  was  at  some  prior  date 
such  an  organisation  in  existence.  Some  evidence 
on  the  subject  (but  not  entirely  satisfactory  in 
character)  is  obtained  from  an  exceedingly  rare 
book1  published  at  Basle  in  1780  under  the  title 

»  No  copy  of  this  book  is  contained  in  the  Libraries  of 
Harvard,  Yale,  or  Columbia  Universities,  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  the  New  York  Public  Library,  the  Boston 
Public  Library,  or  the  British  Museum.  Two  copies  exist 


92      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

"  Histoire  de  I'Ordre  hereditaire  du  Cigne,  dit 
I'Ordre  Souverain  de  Cleve,  ou  du  Cordon  d'Or,  par 
M.  le  Comte  de  Bar.  "  It  is  well  to  acknowledge 
at  the  outset  that  the  testimony  thus  obtained 
should  be  used  with  some  reserve.  Reiffenberg 
states  that  although  the  author  describes  him- 
self as  "Antoine  Francois  le  Paige  de  Bar,  conte 
titulaire  de  Bar-sur-Seine  et  du  Saint  Empire," 
these  titles  were  self-conferred,  since  the  author 
was  nothing  more  than  a  cur6  at  Laerne  in  Flan- 
ders. Pigeonneau  also  alludes  to  the  book,  but 
characterises  the  author  with  the  brief  description 
"  half  archaeologist,  half  maniac  " ! 

The  book  treats  at  some  length  of  the  Swan- 
Knight  legend,  of  which  only  three  accounts  seem 
to  be  known  to  the  author,  viz.:  Veldenaer's 
Chronique  de  Cleve,  printed  in  1480,  the  Chron- 
ique  de  Brogue,  written  in  1211,  and  a  work  by 
Lambert  d'Ardres  in  the  time  of  Philip  Augustus. 
Of  these,  the  first  is  the  only  one  which  specifically 
connects  the  legend  with  Cleve.  The  author  states 
that  the  Order  of  the  Swan  was  instituted  in 
1290  by  the  Emperor  Rodolphe  I.  at  the  occasion 
of  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  Marguerite  of 
Hapsburg  to  Thierri  IX.,  Count  of  Cleve,  in  order 

in  the  Biblioth^que  Royale  at  Brussels,  as  also  one  copy  of 
a  second  volume  which  was  issued  in  1782. 


The  Cleve  Legend  93 

to  celebrate  the  miraculous  event  of  the  arrival 
of  an  unknown  knight  in  a  boat  drawn  by  a  swan 
at  Nimegue,  or,  as  some  said,  at  Meghem.  It  was 
founded  as  a  hereditary  Order;  and  the  Emperor 
conferred  the  title  of  Chevalier  of  the  Order  upon 
representatives  of  all  the  collateral  branches  of  the 
house  of  Count  Thierri  in  order  to  attach  the  house 
inseparably  to  the  Order.  A  detailed  account 
is  given  of  the  genealogical  records  of  the  first 
twelve  Chevaliers  of  the  Order,  all  of  whom  died 
between  1293  and  1328 ;  and,  in  the  second  volume, 
the  genealogical  records  are  continued  with  the 
apparent  object  of  showing  incidentally  that  the 
author  was  in  the  direct  line  of  descent,  and  there- 
fore entitled  to  claim  membership. 

There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  there  were 
twelve  divisions  of  the  house  of  Cleve,  each  with 
its  respective  chief,  and  that  the  swan  was  adopted 
as  the  emblem  of  that  house;  but  the  evidence 
given  in  regard  to  the  existence  of  the  Order  is  not 
convincing.  However,  we  are  hardly  justified  in 
believing  that  the  author  was  drawing  entirely 
upon  his  imagination,  since  he  gives  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  emblem  worn  by  the  princes  of  the 
house  of  Cleve,  taken,  as  he  says,  from  portraits, 
but  without  giving  their  date.  The  emblem  con- 
sists of  an  enamelled  Maltese  cross,  on  which  is  a 


94      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

blue  escutcheon  bearing  the  figure  of  a  swan,  in 
silver,  with  a  golden  chain  around  its  neck. 

Le  Paige's  book  is  an  interesting  item  for  con- 
sideration, but  one  is  forced  to  the  conclusion 
that,  until  collateral  evidence  is  discovered,  its 
contents  are  not  of  any  special  historical  value. 

Burke 's  Orders  of  Knighthood  mentions  the 
Prussian  Order  of  the  Swan,  founded  by  the  Elec- 
tor Frederick  II.  in  1449,  and  revived  by  the 
King  of  Prussia  in  1843.  This  Order  was,  how- 
ever, of  a  religious  and  charitable  character,  and 
the  decoration  was  quite  different  from  those 
mentioned  above.  Even  granting  the  existence 
of  an  earlier  Order,  the  connection  between  the 
two  seems  to  be  doubtful. 


THE    SWAN    TOWER    AT    CLEVE 


CHAPTER  IX 

PERSONS,  PLACES,  AND  THINGS 

HPHE  legend  of  the  Swan-Knight,  as  has  been 
stated  on  previous  pages,  is  closely  identi- 
fied with  the  Netherlands.  The  Lohengrin  ver- 
sion is  associated  with  Antwerp;  and  the  knight 
arrives  by  way  of  the  river  Scheldt.  In  the  ope- 
ratic story  the  entire  action  appears  to  take  place 
in  Antwerp,  but  the  original  poetic  form  places  the 
combat  at  Mainz;  and  this  latter  city  also  figures 
in  the  early  form  of  the  Helyas  version  in  a  rather 
puzzling  way,  which  suggests  the  possibility  that 
future  research  may  produce  evidence  about  the 
development  of  the  legend  which  is  not  now 
apparent. 

There  is  a  tale  which  continues  the  adventures 
of  Lohengrin  after  his  parting  from  Elsa,  and  con- 
ducts him  to  the  region  of  Luxembourg.  Ac- 
cording to  this  story  Lohengrin  journeyed  to  the 
country  of  "Lizaborye"  (i.e.,  Luxembourg)  and 
married  the  Princess  Belaye.  Here,  after  a  happy 
married  life,  Lohengrin  was  murdered;  and  his 

95 


g6      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

wife's  sudden  death,  through  grief,  followed  soon. 
They  were  both  buried  there,  and  the  name  of  the 
country  was  changed  to  Lothringen,  i.e.,  Lorraine, 
to  commemorate  the  hero's  name.  It  would  in- 
deed be  pleasant  if  we  could  identify  the  place 
of  Lohengrin's  burial,  so  that  all  the  lovers  of  that 
beautiful  opera  might  have  the  opportunity  of 
making  a  pilgrimage  to  the  spot ;  but  one  cannot 
help  feeling  that  this  story  of  continued  matrimo- 
nial experiences  serves  to  diminish  the  interest 
in  the  hero's  life.  We  should  much  prefer  to  think 
of  him  as  retracing  the  journey  he  made  in  pur- 
suance of  his  knightly  duties,  until  he  reaches  the 
mysterious  country  whence  he  came,  there  to 
resume  his  work  as  one  of  the  guardians  of  the 
Holy  Grail. 

The  story  of  Helyas,  on  the  other  hand,  con- 
tains more  features  of  geographical  interest;  but 
we  must  remember  that  romantic  geography — so- 
called — is  a  study  which  should  be  undertaken 
with  care,  lest  we  attribute  too  much  importance 
to  statements  which  are  actually  only  traceable 
to  the  author's  imagination.  The  earliest  known 
version  of  the  story  of  Helyas  (in  which,  however, 
the  name  of  Helyas  does  not  appear)  places  the 
opening  scene  on  the  borders  of  Hungary.  This 
may  have  been  due  merely  to  the  author's  desire 


Persons,  Places,  and  Things        97 

to  place  the  story  in  a  locality  which  was  suffi- 
ciently distant  to  add  an  element  of  mystery  to 
the  narrative.  It  may,  on  the  other  hand,  be  an 
indication  to  us  that  the  question  of  the  origin 
of  this  version  includes  some  feature  which  we 
do  not  yet  understand.  The  necessary  evidence 
to  solve  the  problem  is  still  lacking.  The  version 
in  which  Helyas  first  appears,  as  well  as  all  the 
later  versions,  gives  the  name  of  Lillefort  to  the 
city  and  country  in  which  he  lived ;  and  the  prose 
version  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  adds  the 
phrase,  "otherwise  named  the  strong  isle"  (i.e., 
Visle  forte) .  This  has  been  quite  clearly  identified 
with  the  city  of  Lille,  now  in  France,  but  formerly 
included  in  Flanders.  The  name  of  the  city  is 
given  as  "  Insula  "  on  some  of  the  maps  of  France 
in  ancient  times.  Lille  has  always  been  a  place 
of  strategic  importance ;  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
name  arose  from  the  castle  founded  there  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nth  century,  which  rose  like  an 
island  from  the  marshes  surrounding  it.  Reiffen- 
berg  identifies  the  kingdom  of  Lillefort  as  cor- 
responding in  a  general  way  to  Flanders. 

From  Lillefort  it  was  entirely  practicable  for 
Helyas  to  go  "from  river  to  river"  to  the  city 
of  Nijmegen  (Nijmwegen,  Nimeguen,  Nimegue), 
where  the  Emperor  Otton, "  the  first  of  that 


98      The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

name, "  was  then  residing.  This  was  Otto  I.  (936- 
973)  who  reigned  over  Almayne  or  Alemainge 
(i.e.,  Allemagne,  Germany),  including  the  land 
of  Dardayne — the  Ardennes — and  neighbouring 
districts. 

The  ancient  Roman  city,  Noviomagus,  now 
called  Nijmegen,  seems  to  be  the  centre  of  the 
Helyas  story.  Here,  where  the  Rhine  loses  its 
identity  by  reason  of  its  many  branches,  the  Swan- 
Knight  arrived  on  his  errand  of  mercy,  and  after- 
wards bade  farewell  to  his  too  inquisitive  wife. 
This  charming  and  spotlessly  clean  little  town 
contains  at  present  very  few  landmarks  of  its 
ancient  history;  but,  on  the  edge  of  a  hill  over- 
looking the  fertile  valley  of  the  Rhine,  there  still 
remain  a  few  traces  of  the  old  castle  dating  from 
the  time  of  Charlemagne.  The  site  commands 
an  extensive  view  of  the  Waal,  as  this  branch  of 
the  Rhine  is  called;  and  if  Beatrix  was  watching 
from  one  of  the  castle's  windows,  she  could  easily 
have  seen  her  deliverer  long  before  he  landed  from 
his  swan-boat. 

In  the  neighbouring  city  of  Cleve  the  visitor 
finds  tangible  evidence  of  a  desire  to  perpetuate  the 
connection  of  the  legend  with  the  locality.  The 
old  castle  which  dominates  the  town  has  long 
borne  the  name  of  the  Swan  (Schwanenburg) ;  and 


THE    SWAN-KNIGHT    STATUE    AT    CLEVE 


Persons,  Places,  and  Things        99 

from  it  arises  a  high  tower,  the  Schwanenthurm, 
bearing  on  its  top  the  golden  figure  of  a  swan. 
Le  Paige  says  that  one  of  the  apartments  of  the 
castle  was  used  as  an  assembly  hall  for  the  Knights 
of  the  Order  of  the  Swan.  In  the  centre  of  the  city 
stands  a  statue  of  the  Swan- Knight,  erected  in 
1882.  The  knight  holds  the  horn  in  his  right 
hand;  and  with  his  left  hand  he  caresses  the 
swan,  which  nestles  close  to  his  side,  gazing  affec- 
tionately upon  him.  The  statue  is  locally  known 
as  the  "  Lohengrin  Monument, "  and  it  is  men- 
tioned by  that  title  in  Baedeker's  guide;  but 
there  seems  to  have  been  a  strange  misconception 
of  facts.  Underneath  the  figure  of  the  knight, 
on  the  four  faces  of  the  pedestal,  are  figures  in 
bas-relief  of  Beatrix,  Dietrich,  Conrad,  and  Gott- 
fried, each  bearing  its  respective  name;  so  the 
statue  represents  Helyas,  not  Lohengrin,  and  it 
commemorates  the  Cleve  legend,  in  which  Lohen- 
grin does  not  appear!  The  fact  that  Cleve  now 
belongs  to  Germany  will  probably  account  for  this 
curious  and  unfortunate  mistake.  It  is  remarka- 
ble that  a  popular  error  like  this  should  exist  in 
the  identical  place  where  so  much  interest  has 
been  shown  in  the  story  of  Helyas,  and  where  in 
fact,  according  to  one  form  of  the  legend,  the 
action  took  place. 


ioo     The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

The  monastery  to  which  Helyas  went  is  called 
Saint  Tiry  in  the  Brussels  version,  i.e.,  St.  Thierry, 
according  to  Reiffenberg.  In  the  latest  prose 
version  of  this  story  Helyas  and  his  wife  the  Coun- 
tess of  Bouillon  are  buried  there.  An  ancient 
abbey  of  this  name  was  situated  on  the  river 
Marne,  not  far  from  Rheims,  but  the  identification 
of  this  abbey  with  the  story  of  Helyas  is  not  clear. 
The  Abbey  of  St.  Trond,  mentioned  elsewhere  in 
the  narrative,  is  not,  on  the  other  hand,  open  to 
any  doubt.  The  monastery  of  that  name  near 
Liege  was  founded  at  a  very  early  date,  and  was 
well  known  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

These  miscellaneous  notes  should  not  be  closed 
without  reference  to  a  curious  ivory  casket 
mentioned  in  The  Romance  of  the  Chevelere 
Assigne  (see  footnote  to  Chapter  IV.,  this  volume). 
The  exterior  of  the  casket  is  divided  into  thirty- 
six  panels  on  which  are  carved  a  series  of  pictures 
relating  to  the  birth  and  career  of  the  Swan- 
Knight  in  the  character  of  Helyas.  This  small 
casket  is  now  owned  by  Hon.  George  A.  Gibbs 
of  Tyntesfield,  Somerset,  and  it  has  been  in  the 
possession  of  his  family  for  many  years.  Nothing 
is  known  of  its  origin.  Regarded  by  itself,  the 
casket  would  have  only  a  passing  interest;  but 
our  curiosity  is  stimulated  by  the  fact  that  it 


Persons,  Places,  and  Things       101 

appears  to  be  an  example  of  a  species  of  work 
traceable  to  the  Italian  ivory-carvers  of  about  the 
1 4th  century  or  earlier,  who  seem  to  have  had  a 
special  interest  in  this  story.  There  are  now  in 
the  British  Museum  eleven  ivory  panels,  evidently 
taken  from  a  similar  casket,  which  are  classified 
as  of  Italian  workmanship  of  the  late  i4th  or 
early  i5th  century.  Also,  Du  Sommerard's  great 
work,  Les  Arts  au  Moyen  Age,  when  referring  to 
the  art  treasures  in  the  Cluny  Museum  at  Paris, 
mentions  an  ivory  casket  of  the  i3th  century, 
covered  with  bas-reliefs  illustrating  a  knightly 
romance  of  the  previous  century.  It  is  classified 
as  of  Venetian  work.  A  representation  of  the 
casket  is  given  among  the  plates  which  accom- 
pany the  text,  and  it  is  there  indicated  as  illustrat- 
ing the  romance  of  Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne.  The 
pictures  delineated  in  all  these  ivory  carvings  give 
in  detail  the  incidents  of  the  story  of  the  children 
changed  into  swans;  so  the  question  may  be 
asked  whether  these  pictures  may  not  have  been 
inspired  by  that  legend  rather  than  by  the  Swan- 
Knight  legend.  In  any  case,  however,  these  two 
legends  seem  to  have  been  amalgamated  at  an 
early  date,  and  the  curious  ivory  panels  actually 
illustrate  both  legends. 


CHAPTER  X 

OTHER  KNIGHTS  OF  THE  SWAN 

'  I  'HE  existence  of  a  legend  so  widely  spread  and 
presenting  a  theme  of  so  great  interest  as 
that  of  the  Swan-Knight,  would  naturally  lead  to 
treatment  of  the  subject  by  many  different  writers. 
It  might  also  be  supposed  that  there  would  be 
many  different  personalities  attributed  to  the 
hero  of  the  legend,  but  it  is  interesting  to  note  how 
largely  this  identification  with  a  named  person  is 
confined  to  the  characters  we  have  considered, 
viz. :  Lohengrin  and  Helyas. 

Some  writers  have  treated  of  a  character  called 
Salvius  (or  Silvius)  Brabon  (or  Brabo),  who,  as  his 
name  indicates,  is  identified  with  Brabant.  The 
tale  is  placed  in  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar,  and  the 
locality  is  Cleve,  where  Caesar  was  then  residing. 
The  chevalier  Salvius,  seeing  a  little  boat  on  the 
river,  boarded  it,  and  was  led  by  a  swan  to  the 
Castle  of  M6gue  where  Queen  Germaine  dwelt, 
a  widow,  with  her  children.  She  was  the  sister 
of  Julius  Caesar,  but  they  had  been  estranged. 

IO2 


Other  Knights  of  the  Swan       103 

Salvius  returned  to  Cleve,  and  effected  a  recon- 
ciliation between  the  brother  and  sister;  and, 
according  to  one  account,  he  obtained  the  hand 
of  Germaine's  daughter  in  marriage,  and  was  made 
the  first  Duke  of  Brabant. 

This  shows,  of  course,  only  a  bare  connection 
with  the  original  legend,  which  has  become  dis- 
torted almost  beyond  recognition.  The  chevalier 
Salvius  appears  also  in  another  tale  in  which  he 
fights  a  giant  who  has  terrorised  the  region  about 
Antwerp.  In  this  tale  the  swan  does  not  appear, 
and  there  is  no  connection  with  the  legend  we  are 
considering.  It  follows  therefore  that  Salvius 
may  be  dismissed  without  further  consideration. 

Another  story  states  that  Charlemagne  was  at  a 
castle  on  the  borders  of  the  Rhine,  and  noticed  a 
swan  leading  a  little  boat  in  which  was  an  armed 
knight  who  bore  the  name  Gerhard  Swan.  The 
knight  placed  himself  at  the  service  of  Charlemagne 
on  condition  of  receiving  a  gift  of  lands  and  a  wife. 
Gerhard  rendered  good  service,  and  received  in 
marriage  Charlemagne's  sister  Adalis,  and  was 
made  Duke  of  the  Ardennes.  This  is  a  Danish 
legend,  and  the  Danish  name  of  the  sister  is 
Elisa,  which  appears  to  correspond  with  the  Elsa 
of  the  Lohengrin  story.  This  form  of  the  legend 
is  comprised  in  the  so-called  Karlamagnus  Saga,  an 


104    The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

old  Norse  literary  work  of  which  there  are  manu- 
scripts dating  from  about  the  i3th  century.  It 
treats  principally  of  tales  relating  to  Charlemagne ; 
but  certain  passages  appear  to  have  been  inter- 
polated for  the  purpose  of  connecting  these  tales 
with  the  legend  of  the  Swan-Knight.  This  was 
probably  the  source  whence  the  story  made  its 
way  to  Iceland,  where  it  appears  in  a  form  in 
which  the  hero  is  the  son  of  Julius  Caesar  and  bears 
the  name  H6HS.1 

In  a  previous  chapter  we  have  mentioned  the 
character  of  Erlin  von  Schwanenbourg;  and  we 
should  also  note  the  fact  that  in  the  Latin  prose 
manuscript  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford 
the  knight  is  called  Eneas,  while  in  the  Romance 
of  the  Chevelere  Assigne  his  name  is  Enyas.  These 
however  do  not  indicate  the  existence  of  other 
personalities,  since  the  variations  are  probably 
due  to  the  irregularities  naturally  incident  to  oral 
transmission. 

The  house  of  Arkel,  in  Holland,  has  a  tradition 
that  a  swan  brought  from  France  John  II.,  lord 
of  Arkel,  who  lived  about  the  year  700. 

In  contradistinction  to  these  various  legendary 

1  Cf.  Bibliotheque  de  I'Ecole  des  Chartes,  vol.  xxv.,  1863-4, 
article  by  M.  Gaston  Paris;  also  Reiffenberg's  Monuments 
pour  servir,  etc.,  vol.  iv.,  Introduction. 


Other  Knights  of  the  Swan       105 

heroes  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  evidence — such 
as  it  is — that  there  was  a  historic  Knight  of  the 
Swan,  to  whom,  it  has  been  claimed,  the  title 
first  belonged.  Baldwin,  the  brother  of  Godfrey 
of  Bouillon,  married  Godchild,  the  widowed 
daughter  of  Radulf  (or  Ralph) ,  lord  of  Toeni  and 
Conches  in  Normandy,  whose  father  Roger  de 
Toeni  was  known  as  the  Swan-Knight.  This 
Roger,  who  died  about  the  year  1040,  was  a  man 
of  prowess,  and  in  the  course  of  his  knightly  ad- 
ventures he  went  to  Spain,  freed  the  widowed 
Ermenside,  Countess  of  Barcelona,  from  her 
enemies,  married  her  daughter,  and  afterwards 
returned  to  his  home  in  Normandy.  For  these  ex- 
ploits he  has  also  been  called  Roger  the  Spaniard. 
In  1035  he  founded  the  Abbey  of  Chatillon  near 
the  town  of  Conches,  which  is  situated  not  far 
from  Evreux.  Roger's  son  Radulf,  mentioned 
above,  lived  first  at  Conches,  but  after  the  Norman 
Conquest  he  made  his  home  at  Flamstead,  Hert- 
fordshire, England,  and  became  the  founder  of  the 
house  of  Stafford. 

It  is  said  that  Roger's  emblem  was  a  swan,  and 
that  he  desired  to  be  called  the  Swan-Knight,  thus 
concealing  his  real  name  and  title;  and  there  are 
known  to  exist  in  the  literature  of  the  i3th  and 
1 4th  centuries  a  couple  of  references  to  members 


io6    The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

of  the  family  of  Toeni  as  descendants  of  the 
Swan-Knight. 

On  the  other  hand  it  is  worthy  of  note  that 
Ordericus  Vitalis,  the  Norman  historian,  who  was 
born  towards  the  end  of  the  nth  century, 
and  therefore  wrote  about  a  century  after  the 
time  of  Roger,  apparently  knows  nothing  about 
Roger's  favourite  title,  as  he  does  not  mention 
it. 

Prof.  Blote,  in  an  article  entitled  "Derhistor- 
ische  Schwanritter "  published  in  Zeitschrift  fur 
Romanische  Philologie,  vol.  xxi.  (1897),  maintains 
the  validity  of  the  claims  made  in  Roger's  behalf. 
He  states  that  Baldwin  was  known  to  the  Chris- 
tians by  a  special  banner  or  sign ;  and  he  believes 
that  this  may  probably  have  been  the  sign  used 
by  the  Toeni  family,  especially  as  Baldwin's  wife, 
the  granddaughter  of  Roger,  started  for  the 
crusades  with  her  husband.  Godchild  died  before 
the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  and  in  consequence  of 
this  fact  there  may  have  been  (designedly  or  oth- 
erwise) a  transfer  of  the  lineal  connection  with  a 
Swan-Knight  from  the  grandfather  of  the  wife 
to  the  grandfather  of  the  husband.1  If  this  were 

1  An  article  by  Hyde  Clark  in  The  Saga  Book  of  the  Viking 
Club,  Jan.,  1895,  refers  to  Godhilda  de  Toni  as  "a  Norman 
Queen  of  Jerusalem,"  but  gives  no  authority  for  this  title. 


Other  Knights  of  the  Swan       107 

the  case  it  might  explain  the  origin  of  the  popular 
belief  about  Godfrey  which  became  a  part  of  the 
glorification  of  the  latter' s  memory.  According 
to  this  theory,  therefore,  there  was  a  historic 
Swan-Knight ;  and  the  story  of  his  deeds  was  first 
connected  with  Godfrey's  younger  brother  Bald- 
win, being  modified  so  as  to  refer  to  Baldwin's  own 
grandfather.  Later,  when  the  memory  of  God- 
frey was  undergoing  a  sort  of  glorification,  and  the 
minds  of  the  people  were  ready  to  accept  any 
wonderful  story  about  him,  the  descent  from  the 
Swan-Knight  became  transferred  to  Godfrey, 
and  in  process  of  time  the  tale  was  changed  into 
the  legendary  form  which  we  have  considered  in 
the  previous  chapters.1 

It  is  an  interesting  theory,  and  worthy  of  close 
attention  and  further  research.  There  is  enough 
evidence  to  whet  our  curiosity,  but  scarcely 
sufficient  to  convince  us  that  the  exact  solution 
of  the  problem  has  been  found.  It  seems  pos- 
sible, on  the  other  hand,  that  the  legendary  tale 
of  Godfrey's  descent  arose  independently  of  the 
history  of  Roger  de  Toeni,  and  that  the  analogies 
between  the  two  stories  were  discovered  by  later 

1  In  Romania,  vol.  xxvi.  (1897),  M.  Gaston  jParis  reviews 
Prof.  Blote's  article  and  states  his  opinion  that  the  chain  of 
evidence  in  favour  of  a  historic  Swan-Knight  is  very  fragile. 


io8     The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

writers  and  made  the  basis  of  the  theory  de- 
tailed above.  It  may  well  be  wished  that  the 
evidence  were  less  fragmentary  and  more  con- 
clusive one  way  or  the  other. 


CHAPTER  XI 

REVIEW  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

'T'HERE  are,  therefore,  only  two  named  per- 
sons  of  real  importance  in  literature  who 
are  known  as  the  Swan-Knight,  Lohengrin  and 
Helyas;  and  it  is  an  interesting  fact  that,  so  far 
as  we  can  judge  from  the  evidence  at  hand,  they 
seem  to  have  made  their  appearance  very  close 
to  the  same  period. 

Lohengrin  comes  into  the  literary  horizon  in 
connection  with  one  of  the  great  works  of  German 
literature;  and  by  reason  of  his  association  with 
that  wonderful  poem,  our  attention  is  attracted 
and  our  admiration  is  kindled.  Moreover,  the 
date  of  the  poem  can  be  fixed  within  close  limits. 

Helyas,  on  the  other  hand,  seems  to  creep  into 
view  quietly  and  even  mysteriously,  and  under 
circumstances  which  make  very  difficult  the  task 
of  assigning  an  exact  date.  His  creator  is  un- 
known, and  the  story  of  his  adventures  would  not 
of  itself  command  special  attention  were  it  not 

109 


no    The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

for  the  connection  established  with  the  life  of 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  his  reputed  grandson.  In 
fact,  as  one  writer  has  said,  Helyas  owes  his  life 
entirely  to  his  illustrious  descendant. 

We  have  noted  in  Chapter  III.  the  considera- 
tions which  seem  to  indicate  that  the  Swan-Knight 
story  in  Wolfram's  Parzival  was  an  original  con- 
tribution by  the  author  of  that  poem,  and  that 
the  identification  of  Lohengrin  with  the  hero  of  the 
legend  was  not  taken  from  any  earlier  work.  It 
has  been  claimed  that  Gerbert's  "continuation" 
of  Chretien's  unfinished  poem  Perceval  le  Gallois 
shows  indications  of  the  use  of  an  earlier  form 
of  the  Perceval  story,  which  may  have  been  used 
also  by  Wolfram,  and  may  have  included  a 
reference  to  the  Swan-Knight  legend.  The  dis- 
cussion on  this  point  is  irrelevant  to  our  present 
subject  except  in  so  far  as  it  might  reveal  traces 
of  a  connection  between  the  Grail  legend  and  the 
Swan-Knight  legend  existing  at  an  earlier  date 
than  is  shown  by  any  literary  works  now  known. 
Gerbert's  lines  describing  the  prophetical  revela- 
tion made  to  Perceval  in  regard  to  his  descendants 
are  cited  in  this  connection.  These  have  been 
mentioned  in  Chapter  III.  The  passage  is 
given  below  as  found  in  Potvin's  edition  of  Perce- 
val, vol.  vi.,  pp.  209,  210: 


Review  and  Conclusions          in 

La  vois  dist :  Perchevaux,  biax  frere, 

Et  de  ta  lignee  venra, 
„  Ce  saches-tu,  une  pucele 

Qui  moult  ert  avenans  et  bele; 

Marine  ert  k  riche  roi ; 

Mais,  par  pe"chi6  et  par  desroi, 

San  de"serte  ert  en  grant  pe*ril 

D'ardoir  ou  de  metre  a  eschil; 

Mais — I — fix  de  li  naistera 

Qui  de  ce  pe"ril  1'ostera ; 

Autre  enfant  de  li  naisteront 

Qui  plusors  terres  conquerront ; 

— I — en  i  aura ;  c'est  la  some, 

Qui  primes  aura  forme  d'ome, 

Qui  moult  sera  et  gens  et  biax 

Et  puis  devenra  il  oisiaus, 

Dont  moult  ert  dolans  pere  et  mere ; 

Et  saches  bien  qu'a  l'aisn£  frere 

Avenra  aventure  bele. 

A  femme  aura  une  pucele 

A  cui  venra  terre  sanz  faille, 

Par  une  force  de  bataille ; 

Et  de  celui  si  naistera 

Une  fille  qui  avera 

— I — fruit  qui  moult  estera  grans 

Et  moult  plaisans  a  toutes  gens, 

Car  trois  fil  de  li  naisteront, 

Qui  Jerusalem  conquerront, 

Le  se"pulcre  et  la  vraie  crois. 

The  Perceval  manuscript  which  bears  number 
12576  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  at  Paris  is 
regarded  as  a  valuable  manuscript  of  the  poem 


ii2     The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

and  as  one  which  gives  the  Gerbert  text  accurately. 
In  this  manuscript  the  lines  of  the  passage  we  are 
considering  correspond  to  those  quoted  above 
from  the  Potvin  edition ;  and  in  the  entire  section 
contributed  by  Gerbert  there  is  no  mention  of  the 
Swan-Knight. 

In  the  lines  quoted  above  the  prophecy  made  to 
Perceval  informed  him  that  among  his  descend- 
ants would  be  three  brothers  who  would  conquer 
Jerusalem ;  and  the  details  of  the  prophecy  leading 
up  to  this  climax  are  virtually  an  abstract  of  the 
early  history  of  Helyas! 

If  Gerbert  had  before  him  a  poem  which  con- 
nected the  Grail  legend  (through  Perceval)  with 
the  family  of  Bouillon  (and  inf erentially  the  Swan- 
Knight)  ,  it  is  remarkable  that  there  is  no  evidence 
of  the  connection  of  these  two  subjects  in  the 
works  of  any  other  author  of  that  period.  If  on 
the  other  hand  we  consider  facts  instead  of 
hypotheses,  we  find  that  the  Swan-Knight  legend 
had  been  connected  with  the  history  of  the  family 
of  Bouillon  at  least  forty  or  fifty  years  previously 
in  the  romance  of  Le  Chevalier  au  Cygne,  and  that 
the  narrative  therein  given  corresponds  with  the 
lines  quoted  above.  The  reasonable  and  natural 
conclusion  is  that  unless  Gerbert  developed  the 
story  of  Perceval  himself,  using,  by  a  remark- 


Review  and  Conclusions          113 

able  coincidence,  the  same  ideas  which  another 
author  had  already  used,  he  must  have  borrowed 
these  ideas  from  the  already  existing  French  poem. 
Our  consideration  of  the  relative  chronological 
positions  of  Lohengrin  and  Helyas  has  carried  us 
within  the  scope  of  the  Grail  legends — a  subject 
so  intricate  and  far-reaching  that  the  investigator 
may  well  proceed  cautiously,  and  avoid  dogmatic 
conclusions;  but  the  theory  that  the  story  of  the 
Swan-Knight  was  attached  to  the  history  of  the 
family  of  Bouillon  at  an  earlier  date  than  that  of 
its  connection  with  the  Grail  legends,  is  supported 
by  authority  of  the  highest  order.  M.  Gaston 
Paris,  for  example,  has  written :  "  Dans  le  Che- 
valier au  Cygne  nous  avons  une  vieille  le"gende 
mythologique  rattache'e  aux  origines  de  la  maison 
de  Bouillon;  cette  Mgende  a  plus  tard  6t6  reli6e 
a  des  r6cits  relatifs  au  Saint  Graal "  (La  Littera- 
ture  Frangaise  au  Moyen  Age,  section  29).  We 
may  also  cite  M.  Pigeonneau,  who,  alluding  to 
Wolfram's  brief  reference  in  Parzival,  expresses 
a  similar  opinion  in  these  words :  "  En  tout  cas,  il 
est  impossible  de  me'connartre,  sous  cette  forme 
legerement  modifie'e,  la  ISgende  qui,  plus  de  vingt 
ans  avant  I'apparition  du  Parcival,  avait  deja 
inspire"  les  trouveres  de  la  France  Wallonne" 
(Le  Cycle  de  la  Croisade,  p.  239). 


ii4     The  Two  Knights  of  the  Swan 

Lohengrin's  prestige,  arising  from  his  original 
environment  and  subsequent  dramatic  associa- 
tions, makes  him  the  better  known  and  more  in- 
teresting character;  but  it  seems,  to  say  the  least, 
very  probable  that  Helyas  was  the  earlier  one  of 
the  two  great  Knights  of  the  Swan. 


Notes 


Notes 


The  following  notes  are  added  to  illustrate  var- 
ious points  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapters. 

Note  A  (Chapter  III.). — It  is  interesting  to  observe  that 
Fauriel,  when  giving  an  abstract  of  Parzival  in  his  Histoire  de  la 
Potsie  Provencale,  closes  his  review  at  the  point  where  Parzival 
takes  up  his  residence  at  Montsauvage  with  Conduiramur  and 
Lohengrin.  He  apparently  considers  this  the  end  of  the  tale 
and  does  not  even  allude  to  the  passage  about  the  Swan-  Knight . 

Note  B  (Chapter  III.). — In  Wolfram's  Parzival,  previous  to 
the  reference  to  Lohengrin,  there  are  two  passages  which  re- 
quire brief  notice.  One  of  these  (Book  IX.)  occurs  in  the 
conversation  between  Parzival  and  the  hermit  in  regard  to 
the  Grail  castle.  The  hermit  tells  Parzival  that  the  Grail 
Knights  send  rulers  to  nations  which  ask  God  to  supply  their 
lack.  The  other  passage  (Book  XVI.)  states  that  when 
Feirefis,  Parzival's  half-brother,  was  baptised,  a  writing 
suddenly  appeared  on  the  Grail  to  the  effect  that  when  a 
Knight  should  be  sent  to  rule  some  earthly  nation,  he  must 
forbid  all  questions  of  his  name  or  origin.  If  these  passages 
are  from  the  hand  of  an  earlier  author,  they  might  be  taken 
as  linking  the  story  of  Lohengrin  with  a  previously  existing 
work;  but  they  are  both  so  incongruous  with  the  context  and 
so  evidently  forced  into  the  story  for  some  special  purpose, 

117 


n8  Notes 

that  we  can  only  regard  them  as  manifestly  part  of  the 
material  added  by  Wolfram  for  the  purpose  of  leading  up  to 
his  tale  about  Lohengrin. 

Note  C  (Chapter  XL). — Gerbert's  reference  to  the  prophecy 
about  Perceval's  descendants  is  in  that  part  of  his  book 
which  he  calls  true  history  ("vraie  estoire")  in  contradis- 
tinction to  the  part  which  follows;  and  the  conclusion  has 
been  drawn  that  this  indicates  the  use  of  existing  material, 
as  mentioned  in  this  chapter.  It  is  always  difficult  to  decide 
how  much  importance  is  to  be  attributed  to  statements  of 
this  kind  in  mediaeval  literature,  and  we  must  in  any  event 
remember  that  Gerbert  was  writing  a  romance,  not  a  history. 
Even  granting  that  this  expression  may  point  to  a  previous 
work  on  the  subject  which  may  have  been  a  common  source 
for  both  Gerbert  and  Wolfram,  nevertheless  the  idea  that 
such  a  work  included  a  connection  between  Perceval  and 
the  Swan- Knight  should  be  supported  by  something  more 
than  inferences  in  order  to  receive  serious  consideration. 

Note  D  (Chapter  XL). — It  has  been  suggested  that  Gerbert 
intended  the  climax  of  the  prophecy  to  be  the  recovery  of 
Jerusalem  by  a  descendant  of  the  future  Grail- King;  that  the 
personality  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  was  the  essential  point ;  and 
that  the  connection  of  Godfrey  with  the  Swan- Knight  was 
only  an  incidental  feature  of  this  reference.  See  an  article 
by  Prof.  J.  F.  D.  Blote  entitled  "  Das  Aufkommen  des  Clevis- 
chen  Schwanritters, "  in  Zeitschrift  fur  deutsches  Altertum, 
vol.  xlii.  (1898). 

Note  E  (Chapter  XL). — Potvin  evidently  takes  the  view 
mentioned  in  this  chapter  in  regard  to  Gerbert.  In  Perceval 
le  Gallois,  vol.  v.,  Appendix,  p.  161,  he  says:  "Gerbert  semble 
ne  1'avoir  e"crite  que  pour  rattacher  la  le"gende  du  Graal  a  la 
tegende  du  Chevalier  au  Cygne,  et  le  Cycle  de  la  Table  Ronde 
au  Cycle  des  Croisades.  " 


INDEX 


Abbey  of  Brogne,  Chronicle 

of,  8 

Adolph  of  Cleve,  89 
Almayne,  78,  98 
Anjou,  Chronicles  of,  26,  27 
Antioch,  87 
Antioch,  fall  of,  36 
Antwerp,  12,  13,  14,  17,  67, 

95 

Ardenne,  51,  52,  98 
Arkel,  house  of,  104 
Arras,  manuscript  of,  85 
Arthur,  King,  13,  21 
Arthurian  legends,  20,  88 
Aryan  folktale,  2 
Ashburnham,  Earl  of,  54 


B 


Baemler,  Hans,  67 
Baldwin,  4,  40,  49,  80,  105, 

1 06,  107 

Bar,  Comte  de,  92 
Barrois  collection,  54 
Baudwyn  (see  Baldwin) 
Beatrix  (Beatrice),  39,  40,  42, 

49,  52,  73,  74,  76,  77,  86, 

87,  98,  99 

Belaye,  Princess,  95 
Bibliotheque     de   P  Arsenal, 

34,  5i 
Bibliotheque  del'  Athenaeum, 

59 
Bibliotheque   Nationale,  34, 

5i,  65,  in 

Bibliotheque  Royale,  52 
Blote,  Prof.,  106,  118 
Bodleian  Library,  66,  104 
Bouillon,  chateau  of,  51,  52, 

8q,  81 
Bouillon,  Duchess  of,  39,  78, 

79,80,81,82 


Bouillon,  family  of,  3,  6,  113 
Bouillon,     Godfrey    of     (see 

Godfrey) 
Brabant,  12 

Brabant,  Duchess  of,  17,  84 
British  Museum,  53,  54,  72, 

101 

Brogne,  chronicle  of,  8,  92 
Bruges,  70 
Brunet's  Manuel  du  Libraire, 

69 

Buckingham,  Duke  of,  71 
Burke's  Orders  of  Knighthood, 

94 


Calabre,  40,  48 

Caxton,  William,  66,  67,  70, 

71 

Celtic  tale,  63 

Chanson  d'Antioche,   6,   35, 

36,  46,  55 

Chanson  de  geste,  33,  65 
Chanson   de   Jerusalem,   35, 

36,  53,  55 

Chanson  des  Che"tifs,  35,  36 

Charlemagne,  98,  103,  104 

Charles  de  Gonzagues,  91 

Charles,  King,  85 

Chatillpn,  Abbey  of,  105 

Chevalier  au  Cygne,  5,  50,  61, 
65,  70,  86,  101,  118 

Chevalier  au  Cygne,  La  Nais- 
sance  du,  5,  35,  47 

Chevelere  Assigne  (see  Ro- 
mance of) 

Children  of  Lir,  63 

Chretien  de  Troyes,  18,  19, 

2O,   21,   22,   23,   24,   27,   28, 

29,  no 
Clarisse,  Duchess  of  Boulyon, 

78 
Clarke,  Hugh,  90 


119 


I2O 


Index 


Cleve,  Duchess  of,  14 
Cleve,  house   of,  83,  85,  86, 

87,  88,  89,  93 
Cleve  Legend,  83,  88,  98,  99, 

1 02 

Cluny  Museum,  101 
Conduiramur,  117 
Constantinople,  48,  88 
Copenhagen,  museum  at,  66 
Copland,  Robert,  71 
Copland,  William,  72 
Cornumarant,  40,  41,  43,  45 
Council  of  Clermont,  36 
Crusades,  33,  35,  46,  55 
Cycle  de  la  Croisade,  113 


Dardayne,  78,  81,  98 
Desrey  (or  d'  Esrey),  Pierre, 

68,  70,  71,  72 
Dietrich,  86,  99 
Dolopathos,  5,  59,  61 
Du  Sommerard,  101 

E 

Early  English  Text  Society, 

'  54 

Elias  Gralius    (or    Gracilis), 

,  87 

Elie  Grail,  87 

Elioxe,  37,  38 

Elsa  of  Brabant,  13,  14,  95 

Elyas,    or    Elias     (see    also 

Helyas),  42,  43,  45,  47,  49, 

50,  51,  52,  66 
Emery,  80 
Eneas,  104 
Enfances    de    Godefroid    de 

Bouillon,  35,  45,  50,  53,  55 
Enfants  change's  en  Cygnes, 

T,SI 
Enyas,  104 

Erlin  von  der  Schwanenburg, 

87,  104 

Esrey,  Pierre  d'  (see  Desrey) 
Eustache  (or  Eustace),  48,  80 
Eustache  de  Portemise,  63 
Eustachius  as  Gernons,  86 


Fauriel,  24,  25,  117 

Feirefis,  117 

F6te  du  Faisan,  88 

Flanders,  97 

Flanders,  Counts  of,  85 

Flegetanis,  17,  26 

Frankebourke,  Earl  of,  78 


Garrahies,  21 
Gaucher  de  Dourdain,  21 
Gaucier  de  Donaing,  21 
Gautier  de  Denet,  21 
Gerard,  Abbe1,  41,  46,  52,  81 
Gerbert,  22,  no,  112,  118 
Gerhard  Swan,  103 
Gibbs,  Hon.  George  A..  100 
Gibbs,  H.  H.,  53 
Gibert  (see  Gerbert) 
Giessen,  Hans,  68 
Godefroid  de  Brabant,  84,  85 
Godehild  of  Toeni,  105,  106 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  3,  4,  7, 

22,  36,  37,  40,  41,  45,  46, 

49,  50,  53,  66,  67,  70,  71, 

76,   80,    82,   83,    105,    107, 

no,  118 

Goerres,  Prof.,  14 
Gottfried,  86,  99 
Graal,  Li  Conte  del,  20 
Grail,  Holy,   12,   13,   16,   17, 

25,  26,  27,  28,  31,  88,  96, 

no,  113,  117,  118 
Graindor  de  Douai,  36,  50 
Gran  Conquista  de  Ultramar, 

9,  62 

Grolier  Club,  72 
Gruuthuuse,  Louis,  Count  of, 

71 

Guelders,  Dukes  of,  85 
Gui  de  Bazoches,  4,  5 
Guillaume,     Archbishop     of 

Tyre,  3,  4,  5,45,67 
Guyot,  (see  Kiot) 

H 

Handbuch    fur    Reisende   am 
Rheim,  87 


Index 


121 


Haute  Seille,  Jean  de,  59 

Haute  Seille,  Monastery  of, 
59,  62 

H61ias  (see  Helyas) 

He'linand,  8 

He"lis,  IOA 

Helyas,  (Elyas,  Elias,  etc.), 
9,  10,33,35,42,43,45,47, 
49,  50,  51,  52,  53,  54,  62, 
67,  68,  70,  71,  73,  74,  75, 
76,  77,  78,  79,  80,  81,  82, 
86,  90,  96,  97,  99,  100,  102, 
109,  no,  113,  114 

Herbers  (or  Herbert),  59 

Heyliger,  67 

Hippeau,  C.,  41 

Histoire  de  la  Poe"sie  Proven- 
gale,  117 

Histoire  de  1'  Ordre  du  Cigne, 
etc.,  92 

Histoire  des  Ordres  Monas- 
tiques,  etc.,  90 

Histoire  Litte"raire  de  la 
France,  69 

Historia  della  Regina  Stella 
e  Matabrune,  63 

Hoe,  Robert,  71,  72 

Hoefer's  Nouvelle  Biographic 
Generale,  69 

Hungary,  37,  96 


Iceland,  9,  104 

Ida   (Ydain),  39,  45,  49,  52, 

79,  80,  82,  86 
Isomberte,  62 
Ivory  casket,  100,  101 


Jean  de  Haute  Seille,  59 

Jongleurs,  8 

Julius  Caesar,  90,  91,  102,  104 

K 

Karlamagnus  Saga,  103 
Kiot,  17,  19,  25,  26,  27,  28, 

29,  31 

Knighthood,  A   Concise  His- 
tory of,  90 


Knights  of  the  Round  Table, 

16 

Konrad,  86,  99 
Konrad  von  Wurtzburg,  n 

84,85 

Kruger,  A.  G.,  55,  63 
Kyot,  (see  Kiot) 

L 

Lambert  d*  Ardres,  8,  92 

Lay  of  Helyas,  35,  53 

Le  Paige,  Antoine  Frangois, 

92,  94,  99 

Liege,  40,  50,  52,  78, 100 
Lille,  54,  88,  97 
Lillefort    (L*  Islefort,    Lyle- 

fort),  42,  51,  73,  76,  77,  78, 

80,  97 
Lir,  The  Fate  of  the  Children 

of,  63 
Litterature  Fran$aiseauMoyen 

Age,  113 
Lizaborye,  95 
Lohengrin,  9,  10,  n,  12,  13, 

14,  16,  17,  18,  19,  21,  22, 

23,  28,  29,  31,  95,  96,  99, 

102,    109,    no,    113,    114, 

117, 118 

Lohengrin  Monument,  99 
Lohengrin  (opera),  I,  n,  15, 

84 

Lohengrin  (poem),  n,  13 
Lothaire,  37,  38 
Lotharingia    (Lorraine),    62, 

64,  96 
Luxembourg,  95 

M 

Madrid,  Royal  Library,  9 
Makayre,  76,  77 
Manuel  du  Libraire,  69 
Manuscripts  at  Berne,  55,  56 
Manuscripts  at  Brussels,  52, 

53,  65,  70 
Manuscripts  at  London,  53, 

54 
Manuscripts  at  Luxembourg, 

59 

Manuscripts  at  Lyons,  53 


122 


Index 


Manuscripts  at  Madrid,  67 
Manuscripts  at  Paris,  34,  51, 

52,53,54,56,65,111 
Markes,  74 

Margaret  of  Burgundy,  71 
Marguerite  of  Hapsburg,  92 
Matabrune,  42,  73,  74,  75,  77 
Maubruyant,  castle  of,  77 
Mayence  (Mainz),  14,  56,  95 
Mecca,  40 
Methuen,  Lord,  71 
Monsalvasch       (Montsau- 

vage),  12,  17,  117 

N 

Nammur  (Namur),  78 
Netherlands,  31,  53,  70,  83, 

88,95 
Nimegue     (Nimaie,    Nijme- 

gen),  39,  40,  43,  46,  56,  78, 

79,  82,  84,  85,  86,  93,  97, 

98 


O 


Olivier  de  la  Marche,  89 
Ordericus  Vitalis,  106 
Order  of  the  Swan,  89,  90,  91, 

92,  93,  94,  99 
Oriant  (Oryant),  42,  43,  73, 

76,  77,  81 
Otto    (or   Otton),    Emperor, 

43,  78,  80,  97,  98 


Paris,  Gaston,  4,  5,  56,  113 
Paris,  Paulin,  37,  47,  48,  49, 

50 
Parzival,  12,  16,  18,  23,  26, 

29,  32,  62,  117 
Parzival  (poem),  II,  12,  16, 

17,  18,  19,  21,  23,  25,  26, 

28,  31,  no,  113,  117 
Perceval,  20,  22,  110,  118 
Perceval  le  Gallois,  20,  no, 

in,  118 

Peter  the  Hermit,  36 
Petit,  Jehan,  68 
Philip  of  Flanders,  27,  28 


Philip  the  Good,  88 
Pigeonneau,  H.,  37,  41,  45, 

46,47,48,66,67,92,  113 
Ponce,  52,  80,  81 
Popleo,  62 
Potvin,  no,  118 
Pyeron,  73 

R 

Radulf  (or  Ralph),  of  Toeni, 

105 
Reclam's     Universal    Biblio- 

thek,  15 
Reiffenberg,  Baron  de,  52,  97, 

100 

Renaus  (Renax,  Renaut),  50 
R6nier,  39 

Richard  le  Pe'le'rin,  35 
Rodolphe,  Emperor,  92 
Roger  of  Tooni,  105,  106,  107 
Roman  de  la  Violette,  22 
Roman  du  Chevalier  au  Cygne, 

33,  ioi 
Romance  of  the  Chevelere  As- 

signe,  54,  100 
Romania,  4,  56 
Roncevaux,  37 
Round  Table,  Knights  of  the, 

16 
Round    Table,    romances   of 

the,  24,  46,  108 
Roxburghe  Club,  53 
Royal  Museum,  Copenhagen, 

66 

Ruckert,  Prof.,  H.,  15 
Rudemart,  37,  38 


Sainteron  (see  St.  Trond) 

St.  Fagon,  37 

St.  Thierry,  100 

St.  Trond,  40,  46,  50,  51,  52 

81,  100 

Salvius  Brabo,  90,  102 
Savary,  75 

Saxony,  Duke  of,  39,  85 
Sc£af  (or  Ske"af),  2 
Schwanenburg,  98 


Index 


123 


Schwanenthurm,  99 
Schwanritter,  II,  84 
Seven  Sages,  58 
Sindibad,  Book  of,  58 
Smith,  Hugh  A.,  55 
Stafford,  house  of,  105 
Statue  of  Swan-Knight,  99 
Swan1-  Children,    legend    of, 

51,  59,  60,  61,  62,    63,    83, 

101 

Swan  in  mythology,  8 
Swan,  Order  of  the,  89,  90, 
„  91,92,93,94.99.103 
Swans,  The  Four  White,  63 


Telramund,  13,  14 
Theodpric  (see  Dieterich) 
Thierri  (see  Dieterich) 
Thierri  IX,  Count  of  Cleve, 

92,93 
Toledo,  17,  25,  26 


U 


Utterson,  53 


Veldenaer's  Chronicle,  92 
Vincent  de  Beauvais,  8 

W 

Wagner,  n,  15,  84 
Wauchier  de  Denain,  21 
Wolfram  von  Eschenbach,  1 1 , 
16,  17,  18,  19,  20,  21,  23, 
24,  25,  26,  27,  28,  29,  30, 
31,  32,   62,   85,   no,    113, 
117, 118 
Wynkyn  de  Worde,  71,  72,  97 


Ydain  (see  Ida) 


;  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FAOUTY 


A     000718252     0 


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from  which  H  wa<  borrowed. 


CI39 


Uni 


